Keep scrolling below to find out more about Susan Smiths case, trial and to find out where she is today. Susan, I value our friendship very much. If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. During this period, Susan had a relationship with a former co-worker, which only made the situation worse. ", Findlay went on to write: "Susan, I could really fall for you. ", It was not her loss alone. The fact is, I just don't want children. Susan Leigh Smith (ne Vaughan; born September 26, 1971) is an American woman who was convicted of murdering her two sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, in 1994 by drowning them in a South Carolina lake. ``One more thing before I go, please dont ever hesitate to call me if you ever need anything! She seemed exhausted by the situation and desperate for help. 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. One diver described seeing the little hand of one of the children pressed against a window. Susan and David Smith were married on March 15, 1991 and moved into Davids great-grandmothers home; the two could not afford to buy a house. She was also sexually abused by her stepfather. Take an eye for an eye, prosecutor Tommy Pope urged the jury. Sources Bev was influential in the community, had good lawyers who would know how to successfully suppress situations like this. She seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early. "Every time we think it's all behind us, it comes up again," says June Miller, Union County's longtime clerk of court. The dead boys' father, David Smith, said he and his family were "disappointed" at the verdict. Susan herself is now in prison after being found guilty of the murders of her children in July 1995. "I'll never forget what Susan has done to me and my family, [and] I even have to say, to her family," Smith said. . He also reiterated that at no point, he suggested that her children were the only obstacle in any potential relationship with her., Something went very wrong that night. 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. Employees of Winn-Dixie, the grocery store where David Smith worked, paid for it as a lasting tribute. Now, at Foster Park, there's a new set of playground equipment, and a marker, in memory of the Smith boys. She was told to press charges, which she refused to do. Smith, now 26, is in prison in Columbia; she was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison and must serve at least 30 years. Please note that this form cannot be used to reset your Google or Facebook password. I know I did when we were messing around earlier this year. Susan Smith is an American criminal who was found guilty of killing her two young sons in order to continue a relationship with a man. Crime.About.com He is known to some local young women as "The Catch.". The letter is a classic of its caddish kind; Findlay read it aloud in court. Back in the 1990s, Susan Smith claimed a Black man kidnapped her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander. The ramp led nine people to their deaths. Throughout the nine-day investigation, Susan received several polygraphs and was questioned about the inconsistencies in her carjacking story. Allen, for one, doesn't need reminders. In the past nine years, Smith has been disciplined at least five times, including self-mutilation and the use and possession of narcotics or marijuana. But unfortunately, it wont be me. He admits molesting Smith before she turned 16-and then continuing a consensual sexual relationship until just weeks before the murders. . First were Michael, who was 3, and Alex, 14 months. "There will always be something to remind each of us that such a thing happened here," she says. Susan was already familiar with such a situation and she was able to comfort David in the following months. She is currently serving his sentence at Leath Correctional Institution in South Carolina. Whether you are using plastic or fabric containers, Earthboxes, or even old buttercream buckets, there are a few important things to consider before planting. I am compiling information about sexual misconduct in the US correctional system for a research paper and would like to include the facts of that case, if those facts are available for review. Over the next several days, Findlay testified, they had a series of highly emotional conversations. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. Findlay said he had begun seeing Smith again last September after she assured him that she was in the process of divorcing her husband, a 24-year-old produce worker at the local Winn-Dixie. All the time, people bring them gifts. This year, as the bands and barbecue mavens set up, television trucks arrived on Main Street, but not for anybody's sauce recipe. On October 25, 1994, the Union native, who was 23 years old at the time, called the police and claimed an armed black man stole her car and drove off with her two sons inside. Williams testified about a conversation with Susan Smith on Oct. 17, eight days before the murders: "I have a problem," Smith said. ``Even though you think we have much in common, we are vastly different. At the time of the murders, Susan and David were separated and David was working at the Winn-Dixie in Union where he met his now wife, Tiffany. Susans mother, Linda Russell, continuedto support her daughter,claiming as recently as five years ago thatSusan simply lost touch with reality at the momentshe murdered her sons. WISTV But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasn't ready for a relationship involving kids. Susan stood by and watched until the car was completely submerged. "You don't have all the guilt in this tragedy," he read, sobbing. Cellmate Secrets premieres Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. on Lifetime. . As you can imagine, the sexual abuse continued and this time with more frequency. Susan had been a sad and introspective child. Shortly after joining the company she was promoted to the position of executive secretary to Consos president and CEO, Carey Findlay. But then Laura came along. Only a few days before Susan Smith drowned her two young sons, her former boyfriend testified today, he wrote her that the children were one reason their relationship could not continue. The witnesses were pivotal figures in Smith's life-men she had slept with, people who'd loved her and, in the case of her ex-husband, someone whose life she had ruined. With Findlay, Susan finally believed she would be able to have some stability in her life but, she was mistaken. Bruck had it exactly right. After a few months Susan seemed to regret her decision, she filed for divorce once again. You will without a doubt make some lucky man a great wife. Susan gave the police the exact distance the car floated before sinking. She will be eligible for parole in 2025 when she is 53 years old. Her mother Linda, weeks after her divorce, took up a new relationship. Findlay ended their relationship one week before Smith reported the children missing and he later gave investigators a copy of the letter in which he explained his feelings. ", That was the bitter end of a tumultuous, too-early marriage. The sheriff wanted to find the bodies first, and then call David to tell him the truth. Americans seem guilty of vast hypocrisy. According to a deposition taken in March in connection with Susan and David's divorce (which became final in May), soon after she began working at Conso Products in 1993, Susan took up with. ``Friends Forever, (two heart-shaped designs). However, when he began to learn more details of the story, he came to his senses. Susan Smith and Tom Findlay; the boyfriend After breaking up with David, Susan started working as a bookkeeper at the largest employer in the area, Conso Products. The following year, prison captain. Susan Smith was both perpetrator and victim. It was October 25, 1994, Susan was at work. They were screaming, weren't they, and that's why you killed them?" Fox Carolina But what can we do to help? During the trial's penalty phase, the courtroom became a-battleground for the two competing views of the defendant-the scheming vixen and the emotionally damaged post-adolescent. Smith was also disciplined in 2000 for having sex four times with prison guard Houston Cagle, who later pleaded guilty and spent three months behind bars for the crime. Both Smith and Findlay worked at Conso. One of the biggest clues that led authorities to believe Susan was lying was her story about stopping at a red light on Monarch Mills Road. Recently, someone gave them a toy truck, a tiny plastic horse, two pinwheels (one for each brother), a plaster angel kneeling in prayer, a $2 bouquet of supermarket flowers and miniature wind chimes, left to tinkle softly in the country graveyard. Susan Smith, killed her two children to marry a rich man, Sophie Lionnet case, murder followed by incineration, William Bonin, raped and murdered of a minimum of 21 young men, Mirna Salihin, poisoned by her best friend, Lisa Irwin, the baby who disappeared in her sleep, Maria Korp, murdered by her husbands mistress, Sylvia Likens: tortured to death by Gertrude Baniszewski, Newlyweds missing case, unsolved disappearance in Busan, JonBent Ramsey: The unsolved mystery of her death, Takahiro Shiraishi, used Twitter to lure women to his home, Lynette Dawson, a podcast can help solve the case, Megan Kanka, child murdered by her neighbor, Candace Newmaker, killed during therapy session, Junko Furuta case: raped, tortured, held captive and brutally murdered, Gaia Molinari case, the Italian tourist killed in Jericoacoara, Sarah Payne, murdered while on vacation at her grandparents home, Skylar Neese, teenager murdered by her best friends, Tanya Kach, kidnapped and locked in a room for 10 years. During her adolescence Susan became popular at school, she was a very attractive young woman and seemed to take leading positions in school activities. Smith had stood by his estranged wife during her nine-day charade, and he said he first heard about her confession on television. Her mother was never good at solving her emotional problems, and her fathers suicide seemed to create a wound that never healed. Caso Criminal 2023 - All rights reserved. Well, people can change. During one of their separations, Susan began having a relationship with Tom Findlay, who was known as one of the most eligible bachelors in Union. Barring an appeal, she will be in prison for at least 80 years- condemned not to die, but to live with her ghastly memories. I remembered how I hurt Laura, and I wont let that happen again; and therefore, I cant let myself get close to you. Susan Smith called the police saying that she had her car stolen by a black man who kidnapped her two young children. 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