Susan Smith (ne Daniels 1961 [3] - June 8, 1989) was an American FBI informant. As for Susan Smith, whatever we learn and eventually come to understand about the motivations behind her horrible crime, she will always remain . Susan Smith, 43, was convicted in 1995 of murdering 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex by strapping them into their car seats in her burgundy Mazda and then letting her car roll into a lake . During her trial, her defense tried to present Susan Smith as a woman with a troubled past. Prosecutors say she killed her sons to remove an obstacle to a love affair with her wealthy boss son. Findlay was one of nine witnesses Wednesday, the second day of testimony in a trial to decide whether Susan Smith lives or dies. During the Smith case, Conso's strategy has been relatively straightforward: Cooperate with authorities, keep the Findlays out of the spotlight, and designate Cooney and personnel manager Sharon O'Dell to speak for the company. As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. She let her car roll down the boat ramp but soon stopped it by pulling the emergency brake. The story opens with 23-year-old Susan Smith leaving her job at the Consol Products company, working as a secretary. It is a story that will not go away. My daughter Susan Smith is the story of a troubled young mother who sent her children to their deaths in a South Carolina lake almost eighteen years ago. Leaving them strapped into their car seats, she drove her car into John D. Long Lake, where they drowned to death. Almost a decade later, David says he's doing well. In 1994, Susan Smith told a tale of being carjacked by a black man who took off with her two young sons in the back seat. Life in prison would make her eligible for parole in 30 years. It drew countless visitors who wanted to take . For nine days, she went on television, pleading tearfully for their safe return. The letter included reasons to end their relationship, the reasons being differences in their backgrounds. The company recently donated that money to day-care centers in the area. On national TV, she sobbed as she described the false kidnapping, claiming the man seized control of her car as she waited at a stoplight, then forced her out at gunpoint and drove off with her sons. "Union is a small town, and Conso employs a lot of people in that small town. She had a guy she was seeing and he used to fly up [to the prison] to see her. she says. (Guess he hasnt seen the game tapes), US Supreme Court refuses to block Florida execution of Donald Dillbeck, Red-hot USF women close out home schedule with explosive offensive showing. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. It drew countless visitors who wanted to take pictures or leave flowers for the boys, and in 1996, its grim reputation darkened even more when seven people (including four kids) drowned there, after stopping to look at the two kids memorials. 2. In 2015, Smith wrote a letter to The State. Not surprisingly, Smiths life in prison has been fairly rocky. Reprint. What Is Chris Watts Life in Prison Like? Snort, booty bump, swallow, shoot. Then, in the fall of 1994, an employee named Susan Smith brutally drowned her two sons. The greeters at Walmart didnt remember seeing her on the night of October 25th. All Filters. "In perspective, that is a glitzy operation for people born in Union who have never traveled beyond the emotional boundaries of Union County. Findlay wrote: If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. And you know, nice girls dont sleep with married men. After her mother remarried, Smiths new stepfather began to molest her. From Zero to Hero: Write Your Short in 30 days, How to stream the upcoming UFC fights for free, Is Madeleine McCann alive? Susan D Smith, 44. Susan Smith had two of her own intimate relationships starting in the summer of 1998. According to records obtained by PEOPLE, she has been disciplined at least five times since 2010 for various infractions, including self-mutilation and the use and possession of narcotics or marijuana. On October 25, 1994, a then 23-year-old married mother of two sons, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, rolled her car into John D. Long Lake with her boys strapped . And Smith already had two sons. Russell asked the jury to spare Smiths life, saying he bore some of the responsibility of the crime. And despite reports that Smith hasn't had the most sterling reputation as an inmate during her incarceration atthe Leath Correctional Institution in South Carolina, it seems that Smith has her eyes set on her future meeting with the prison parole board. The Tribune wrote that in a letter Findlay sent breaking up with Smith, it implied that "he broke off the affair, in part . Russell was one of several relatives and friends to testify on behalf of Ms. Smith, who was convicted Saturday of rolling her car into a lake Oct. 25 with 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex strapped in their car seats. In a letter to Susan Smith, Tom declared he did not want kids, or to have a part in the life of Smiths kids, nor did he think she was a nice girl. Her father died by suicide when Susan was just 6 years old, and Susan herself tried to commit suicide at age 13. However, as she later confessed, there was no such crime. The case attracted international attention because of her false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, but instead Susan Smith and her children, Alex and Michael. The case attracted international attention because of her false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, but instead. After graduating from high school, she then met David Smith, the man who would become the father of her two children. Updated: 8:42 AM EDT July 18, 2003. One of the revelers, Susan Brown, still works at Conso. That was more important to her than the actual act, Findlay told defense attorney David Bruck during cross-examination. bore some of the responsibility of the crime, He also expressed disappointment with her sentence, local and national African American communities, said that while communicating with Smith in prison. Susan Smith falsely accused a black man of carjacking her children in 1994 Andrew Smith, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. You dont have all the guilt of this tragedy, he read from a letter he wrote Ms. Smith this past Fathers Day. Until front-office secretary Susan Smith killed her two sons, Conso Products Co. hummed quietly along, rolling out decorative trimmings for chairs, sofas and drapes. He strangled, Shannan Gilbert went missing after running from a clients residence and making an emergency 911 call reporting someone was trying, Dennis Nilsen abducted and murdered roughly sixteen or seventeen young men between 1978 and 1983; the exact number of victims, Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin, also known as The Chessboard Killer, is a Russian serial killer who has killed 48 people. In a long day of testimony, the relationship between Smith and Findlay took center stage. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesThe funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. However, Susan Smith didnt leave it there. Smith believed that getting rid of her children was the only way to please her new lover, Tom Findleythe son of the owner of the company where Smith worked as a secretarywho didnt want children. Prosecutors said Susan drowned her boys because she wanted to be with a local wealthy bachelor, Tom Findlay. It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself, the letter read. romance just days before Smith committed the crimes. At trial, Smiths defense lawyers claimed she was severely mentally ill and pointed to her troubled life as cause. All Rights Reserved. That is so far from the truth. But then, she purposefully rolled her car into John D. Long Lake in Union County, South Carolina, and left them to die. She told me David knew about a relationship she had had and was going to make it public, Findlay said. Then, after insulting Findlay by claiming she slept with his father, he asked her to leave. As deeply depressed as she was that Tom had ended their relationship, she was still sexually involved with David - and with her step-father, Bev Russell. Mr. Findlay testified that when he called Mrs. Smith's house on one occasion, Mr. Smith snatched the phone from her. Susan Smith murdered her young sons in 1994. Susan Smith, then 23, claims that a black man hijacked her car and drove away with her children inside. The Susan Smith I know is very caring, very loving, a good friend to everyone, not just me, he said. Findlay told of an encounter with David Smith in March 1994, when David and Susan were separated and she and Findlay were just starting to date. She gained the . When it comes to true crime, some of the cases that seem to shock people the most are also the most incomprehensible. As the murder trial of Susan Smith begins this week in Union, Judge William L. Howard Jr., who is barring all cameras from the courtroom, has indicated that the proceedings will not come to. Smith interacted with young women who had risen through the company's ranks to sales and marketing jobs paying more than $30,000. But the account by Mr. Morrow, a diving expert with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources who found the car more than a week after the drownings, was only a part of a gripping day of testimony. The statement of Tom Findlay, graphic arts manager of Conso Products Company in Union, released Friday by Sharon O'Dell, human resources director for the company: "I am devastated by this tragedy. Donna Garner is Ms. Smiths closest friend. Tom Findleythe son of the owner of the company where Smith worked as a secretarywho didn't want children. Print length 239 pages Language English Publisher Pinnacle Publication date August 1, 1996 Dimensions 4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches ISBN-10 Her sentence was thirty years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after the thirty years are up. David, only eleven days before the wedding, lost his brother to Chrons disease. Halleck said that she had sex with Tom Findlay, 28, the textile heir, but that he was not the main focus of her life. She does not deserve to walk on the earth in which she denied her children. In January 1994, Susan and Tom began dating casually, but soon Susan was back with her husband David, and that again led to the couple wanting a divorce. [Watch Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith on Lifetimes site and apps.]. When Susan Smith was sixteen years old her stepfather began to treat her differently he was sexually abusing her. Susan Smith and 6 Other Women Who Have Murdered Their Children. Shes behaving herself these days, the source said. The man she wrote about was a graphic artist named Tom Findlay, who enthralled the court with details of a stormy relationship that came to a head on October 25, 1994. . I was not in my right mind.. Following the jury's decision, David Smith, expressed his disappointment with the sentence. Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? If youre fascinated by the world of true crime, sign up for our newsletter. I feel no sorrow for her at all! Susan Smith Trial: 1995 . For nine days a search for her children took place. Revelations about her activity are made in Friday's episode of Lifetime's Cellmate Secrets, narrated by Angie Harmon, which airs tonight at 10 ET/9 CT. (An exclusive clip is shown below.). "Like I told you before, there are some things about you that aren't suited for me, and yes, I mean your children," said the letter, written on Oct. 17, just eight days before Mrs. Smith drowned her children. Her behavior behind bars has only made her more infamous, as shes been caught smoking marijuana and sleeping with a correctional officer. Soon after the death of her father, her mother married Beverly Russell. Fast forward to October 25, 1994. As a $17,000-a-year secretary to Cary Findlay, Smith worked for one of Union's wealthiest people. Garner, who has known Ms. Smith since she was in the first grade, said he spent two sleepless days searching for the youngsters on back roads, angry at the fictitious carjacker. The following year, Rowe also pleaded guilty to having sex with Smith and was sentenced to five years probation. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. Susan Smith, leaving court in this photo, was convicted on July 22, 1995 of murdering her two sons, 3-year-old Michael Daniel Smith and 14-month-old Alexander Tyler Smith. The prosecution claimed that since she killed her children it was easy for her to gain the sympathy of her former boyfriend Tom Findly. 'He told me, 'Watch your back,'' Findlay said. 1000s of new photos added daily. Susan Smith told the police that the car and the children were at the bottom of John Ds long lake. The lake where Smith killed Michael and Alex went on to become a macabre tourist attraction. She made a tearful plea on national television for their safe return. Refine Your Search Results. After learning about the murder of Susan Smiths children, read about Texas woman Andrea Yates drowning her kids to save them from the Devil. On October 25, 1994, a mother would commit an unspeakable act. She was born on September 26th in 1971, the youngest of three kids. UNION, S.C., July 25 -- A sobbing Susan Smith apologized Tuesday to her ex-husband for killing their children after he twice broke down in tears while testifying in the sentencing phase of her. Tragedy struck in 1977 when her father, Harry Ray, committed suicide. Company business required them to travel to Atlanta, New York, London and Frankfurt, Germany. Findlay, 28, short and balding with a pleasant face, has been the shadowy figure at the center of the Susan Smith mystery. It comes with the possibility of parole one that she'll be eligible for in 2024, per the New York Post. Discover amazing horror stories, conspiracy theories, Murder Mysteries, Alien Life, Unsolved Mysteries, latest breakthrough Science news, and much more on Bugged Space ! A questionnaire asked potential jurors whether they had ever worked at Conso or had a financial stake in it. 4,617 17 Nov 01, 2008 #1 SUSAN SMITH'S LETTER TO TOM FINDLAY Dear Tom, Just a note to say thank you for everything. Jurors in Susan Smith's murder trial heard the words written by an ex-boyfriend that prosecutors say drove the young mother to kill her two sons: ``I just don't want children.'' In a letter to Smith written a week before 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex were drowned in a lake, Tom Findlay described her as ``intelligent, beautiful, sensitive, understanding.'' They both came from families tormented by tragedy. After being found guilty for the murder of her sons, convicted killer Susan Smith was sent to prison. Fox, 82, of Findlay died at 3:39 p.m. on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at the Bridge Hospice Care Center surrounded by her loving family. Even one of the more curious moments of their relationship -- her telling him on the day of the drownings that she had once slept with his father -- did not seem to have left him with any ill will toward her. Susan Smith's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars. Susan said she wasnt happy about her mother receiving all the male attention. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think that I hurt my children in order to be with a man. At home, however, he was molesting his 15-year-old stepdaughter, fondling her breasts and genitals. He got on the phone and screamed at Findlay: Dont you talk with my wife, you son of a bitch. Parole could be challenging for the child killer to secure, considering that in 2000, a 28-year-old Susan Smith got busted -- and picked up an STD -- after having sex with a 50-year-old prison guard four times, the Daily Mail . So what has Susan Smith's life been like for well over two decades? My main purpose was to bring her pills. All rights reserved Bugged Space 2019-2022, Susan Smith and Tom Findlay; the boyfriend, Meet Andrea Yates; The Mother Who Murdered Her Children By Drowning Them One-By-One in The Bathtub, Man beats wife to death in front of kids, send a pic of the corpse. Smith's relationship with Findlay, the son of a wealthy mill owner, has provided the prosecution with its motive for the murders of her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. Susan Leigh Vaughan was born on September 26, 1971 in Union, South . She reddened slightly and stared back at him. Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison. Murder of Susan Smith. Ss for the crimes that put her in prison in the first place, she broke her decades-long silence in 2015 via a letter to South Carolinas The State. Susan was born on April 2, 1939 in Mansfield, Ohio to William D. and Helen R. (Robinson) Gibson. She claimed it wasnt her lovers demands that prompted the violent acts, writing: The thing that hurts me the most is that people think that I hurt my children in order to be with a man. Only time will tell if this will aid in keeping her behind bars for good. She said that she was living in what she called a veil of tears, not wanting to live without a mother. This horrified Tom even more. He also said he didnt anticipate the woman being freed anytime soon. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Smith and Findley had been dating for a few months after her separation from her . Doctors diagnosed her with an adjustment disorder and blamed her behavior on stress. In October 1994, Susan Smith called South Carolina police claiming her two sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, were kidnapped when a Black man stole her car. Tom Findlay and Smith were among five people who partied nude in a hot tub at Cary Findlay's estate Oct. 15, 10 days before the boys were drowned in a lake. Susan Smith, born Susan Leigh Vaughan on September 26, 1971, in Union, South Carolina. Smith made an emotional plea on the television for the safe return of her children. In the letter she claimed that she intended to kill herself with her children, but she changed her plan in the final moment. During their breakup, Susan dated her former boyfriend, but when she found out that she was pregnant again, which seemed to bring David and her into clearer focus, the two reunited. She would ultimately find a partner in David Smith, a fellow Winn-Dixie supermarket worker who was raised a Jehovahs Witness by strict parents. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesSusan Smith was convicted of murdering her children on July 22, 1995. The jury has heard embarrassing testimony about Smith's affair with co-worker Tom Findlay and her claim _ which she later recanted _ that she slept with J. Cary Findlay, Tom Findlay's father and Conso's chairman. According to aPeople report in 2020, a source inside the prison said that Smith is "behaving herself these days." I was not in my right mind. She also noted, in something of a contradiction, that she had planned to kill myself first and leave a note behind telling what had happened., In the same letter, Smith also wrote that shed concocted the false story about the kids abductions because she didnt know how to tell the people who loved Michael & Alex that they would never see them again.. They assisted police by printing out thousands of missing posters and distributing photos of the kids; tying yellow ribbons around mailboxes and telephones; and scouting wooded areas on horseback. He was subsequently fired from his job and spent three months in jail after pleading guilty to the illicit sexual relationship. Weeks after the birth of the second child, Alexander, the couple called it quits once more. Again, Smith tried to get Tom on her side by going to his office, and declaring what she had told him was a lie. On October 17, 1994, just days before Susan and Davids divorce papers were filed, Tom Findlay sent a Dear John letter to Susan. Initially, there was an outpouring of support for the young mother whose sons had been kidnapped by a mysterious carjacker. The composite drawing of the carjacker was so generic that it raised suspicion. According to the . Era lo . All Filters. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. Susan Smith 's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars . Susan and David Smith were separated at the time and have since divorced. The sketch described half of the African American men who lived in the community. One day in October 1994, Susan Smiths kids, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, joined her for a drive. (Cary Findlay . Susan Smith. "With all the crazy, mixed-up things that take place in this world today," the letter continued, "I just don't have the desire to bring another life into it. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. We can only hope. After getting to the location, divers found the car 122 feet from the shore upside down under 18 feet of water. Closing arguments in the trials penalty phase were to begin today, with jury deliberations possibly starting this afternoon. While the police and FBI continued their search, Susan and David stayed with their families. By the late summer of 1994, Susan told the defense's psychiatrists, she was sexually involved with four different men--Bey Russell, David Smith, Tom Findlay and Tom's father, Cary. Smith's incarceration has been marred by disciplinary infractions involving drug use and sex with prison employees. Keep on scrolling to find out more. But more than the physical pleasure, he said, she loved. With the two in the same house again, Smith was subjected to more of Bevs inappropriate actions. "The company realizes that what happens has to be played out in the courts and that it does not have anything to do with Conso or its business," Cooney said. A look at the notorious convicted murderer's life in prison after she drowned her two sons in 1994 By Steve Helling Updated on November 15, 2022 10:05 AM On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith told. 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The mom did it, the question was soon becoming more obvious as the search continued. In March 1988, Russell admitted sexually assaulting Ms. Smith when she was 16, but she and her mother decided not to press charges. "I was able to see a small hand pressed against the glass.". On November 3rd, Sheriff Wells made a shocking announcement: Susan Smith has been arrested and will be charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of her children Michael, 3 and Alexander, 14 months.. On top of that, Ms. Smith later said that a cause of her depression was her breakup with Conso employee Tom . "I've seen Susan do everything. I've seen her do it all," Smith says, before adding, "My main purpose was to bring her her pills.". Unless all 12 jurors vote for a death sentence, Ms. Smith, 23, will receive life in prison. 'I took David's threats seriously.' Investigators testified Wednesday. At thirteen Smith attempted suicide, though nobody knew. Howd that go? ``We loved those kids like they were our own, Garner said through tears. In the hospital, Smith admitted when she was thirteen she had attempted to kill herself in a similar fashion. A divorced father of three, Russell was a thriving stockbroker, and a member of both South Carolinas Republican community and the Christian Coalition. According to jail records reviewed by People magazine, Smith has committed a number of infractions while behind bars, ranging from drug-use issues to self-harm, and has lost a variety of privileges for these infractions (such as loss of phone, canteen and visitation privileges). But in 1994, she destroyed her own family when she murdered her children. And I don't want to be responsible for anyone else's children, either.". But the defense may have also profited from his testimony. Under cross-examination by Pope, Russell acknowledged that consensual sexual relations with Ms. Smith resumed after she became a married mother. When Smith was seven years old her parents got a divorce her mother remarried quickly once it was finalized. Both Smith and Findlay worked at Conso. On the ninth day of the search, Susan and David appeared on all three national network morning news programs, declaring their innocence and pleading for the return of their children, Alex and Michael. In her written confession, Susan Smith claimed that she was suicidal on the evening of October 25th. As the car was removed from the lake, the bodies of two children remained in their car seats, grossly deformed from being underwater too long. He swore to never do it again and agreed to family therapy, but then kept abusing Susan who revealed as much in February 1988. Garner talked of the boys as a grandfather would, describing how he let them tag along on projects in the garage, pick apples in the yard and choose storybooks he would read them. After Susan Smith and her ex-husband David separated for the final time around 1994, the young woman soon entered what in the beginning was a consensual relationship with a man named Tom Findlay. Findlay said he felt so threatened, he slept with a handgun under his pillow. A death sentence means a choice of electrocution or injection. With operations stretching from Union to New York to London, Conso is expanding steadily and claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of decorative trimmings for home furnishings. She and David finally filed for divorce in September of 1994, and Smith put all her attention on Tom. Buy White Printed Paisley Print Dress X29087 at LASCANA. David was already engaged to another woman, but he broke it off to pursue a relationship with Smith. Susan Smith's most intense extramarital affair was with a newfound employee at Conso Products in 1993. She knows that her parole date is four years away and she cant get parole if she isnt being good., In 2020, Melissa Moore, a crime correspondent for The Dr. Oz Show, said that while communicating with Smith in prison, she realized Smith was a joy to talk to, saying, If she did not commit those crimes, she would be your best friend.. Michael and Alex Smith were buried together in the same casket on November 6, 1994. And for that she was sentenced to life in prison -- with the chance of parole. Smith hid it well. Susan Smith, the mother who drowned her two sons in a lake in 1994 has been sending romantic letters to her boyfriends from the South Carolina prison where she is serving a life sentence. Almost as soon as they were wed, the Smiths would begin relentlessly arguing and cheating on each other. Susan Smith was convicted of murdering her children on July 22, 1995. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. Susan Smith's childhood was disturbing. A newspaper claimed that the sexual relations between them had continued until six months before the murders. In 2015, she broke the silence with a letter written to the State Newspaper. Just three hours later, Susan Smith put her kids in her 1990 Mazda Protege and set out for a drive. [Watch true crime series and documentaries anytime with A&E Crime Central. , Susan Smith, then 23, will receive life in prison would make eligible... Intense extramarital affair was with a correctional officer free true crime, sign up people. Severely mentally ill and pointed to her troubled life as cause like they were wed, relationship! Spare Smiths life in prison has been marred by disciplinary infractions involving use! Just three hours later, David says he & # x27 ; s doing.. 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Ds long Lake, where they drowned to death keeping her behind bars has only made her infamous. Only time will tell if this will aid in keeping her behind bars has only made her infamous!