It was a chilly and spooky night on October 25th, 1994 in Union County, SC. Mercury was in Retrograde. Just days before Halloween, there were decorations up of ghosts, apparitions, and scary characters. Kids were excited about the upcoming holiday and getting their costumes ready. Smells of apple cider, pumpkin spice, and hot chocolate filled the air.
Unfortunately, 2 little boys, 3-year-old Michael, and 14-month-old Alexander would not be able to take part in the festivities. For those boys, they need not be scared of strangers or apparitions, but the demon from the pits of hell they called mama, Susan Smith. Those boys didn't survive that night. Their lives were snuffed out by the one that was supposed to love them, the one that was supposed to protect them. Their mother strapped them in the car, quietly closed the door, and released the emergency brake as they slowly sank into John. D. Long Lake. They died by drowning after the car took 6 minutes to fully submerge. With the tail end in the air, and the nose down, they would have seen their impending doom of the dark black water they were sinking into. Screaming and crying would have surely been heard by the one they call mama as it was eventually found out, she knew exactly where the car sank. It's been speculated that she turned the lights on to be able to watch it submerge.
But...let's back up for a second. Who was Susan Smith?
Susan Smith was born Susan Vaughn on 9/26/1971. She was born into chaos, and rarely had any sort of stability. She was the only daughter of Linda and Harry, who were always fighting. Linda was a homemaker, and Harry was a millworker and alcoholic. Even with all the turmoil, she was close to her father and would light up when he was around. Her father, Harry, committed suicide when Susan was only 6 years old. Susan and her 2 brothers were scared of their parents fights. Her childhood was tumultuous with her 1/2 brother Michael attempting suicide before she was of preschool age. According to one of her friend's mother's, Susan was a very unusual child in elementary and pre-school and would often stare into space as if she wasn't there. In 1977, Linda, Susan's mother, divorced Harry. He took it badly even though he was violent with Linda and constantly accusing her of cheating on him. The former firefighter turned mill worker took his own life 5 weeks after the divorce, and there was nothing left to light up little Susan's eyes. Harry put the gun in between his legs, aimed at his stomach, and pulled the trigger. He was mortally wounded, but he didn't die automatically. 7 years later, Susan also attempted to commit suicide for the first time.
Susan's mother remarried 2 weeks after her divorce was finalized. Her new husband, Beverly Russell, molested Susan from the time she was 15, and she continued sleeping with him up until almost the time she committed the murders. Bev later admitted to his sexual acts towards her at her trial, and said the whole blame of the tragedy shouldn't be on her. He was an Executive Committeeman at his local Republican Party and the Leader of the Local Christian Coalition Chapter.
Although Susan had a highly dysfunctional home life, she was a good student throughout the years. She was a member of the Beta Club, which meant she averaged a B in her classes. She was a member of the Red Cross, Math, and Spanish Clubs, and was voted "Friendliest Female" in her senior year. She was even President of the Junior Civitan Club and volunteered with the elderly and in the nearby hospital.
In the summer of 1988, before her senior year of high school. Susan got a job as a cashier at the local Winn Dixie, and she worked her way up to bookkeeper. In November of 1988, Smith once again tried to commit suicide, but failed and was hospitalized. Her managers were very understanding, and allowed her to come back to work after her month of recovery. Winn Dixie is where she met her husband, David Smith. He was a stock clerk and was engaged to long-time girlfriend, Christy Jennings. He and Susan began dating in 1990, and decided to marry when they found out she was pregnant in January 1991. They were married in March only 11 days after David's 22 year old brother died of Chrohn's Disease. Linda, Susan's mother, was worried that she would "show", and insisted that the wedding go on even with the death and sadness in David's family.
Susan and David had a lot of tension in their marriage and separated many times due to infidelities on both of their parts. Another stressor was that David became Susan's boss at Winn Dixie. They had their 2nd child in August of 1993, and after recovery, Susan found a new job. She didn't want to see Tiffany Moss who worked at Winn Dixie and become David's girlfriend while Susan was pregnant. She got a job at Cosno as Assistant to the Executive Secretary for J. Carey Findlay, the President and CEO of Cosno, and she enjoyed her responsibilities there.
During that time period in her life, she had a lot going on. She worked full-time at Cosno, she had a partial load of classes at USC, she had full custody of her 2 boys, and she was having sexual relations with 3 men, David Smith (her husband), Bev Russell, and Tom Findlay. That's a lot on her plate. So what happened that fateful day? And who is Tom Findlay?
Approximately a week prior to the murders, Tom Findlay, one of Susan's sexual partners and prior boyfriend, gave her a typed letter that was dated 10/17/1994 explaining that they were not suited for one another. This tore at Susan's feelings of depression and loneliness, and all of the darkness of her past was surrounding her.
Tom Findlay was a co-worker of hers, and the son of the CEO of Cresno. He was in charge of the graphic design department there and created the company's brochures. Being young and rich, he was quite the bachelor in Union even though he was described as not very physically attractive. He grew up in an affluent suburb in Birmingham Alabama, and had a Bachelor's Degree from Auburn University. Susan began dating Tom, but later she and David tried to work on their marriage. Their last attempt at reconciliation didn't work, and Susan once again began dating Tom in September of 1994. She loved him and thought he would be her savior from her life of loneliness, but he had other ideas. He eventually broke up with her and thought she was too needy and possessive.
Now that we have a little background established, let's talk about the day she murdered her children.
Timeline of events:
Everything was normal that morning. She got her children dressed and fed, dropped them off at daycare and headed to work.
Around 1:30PM she pleaded with her boss to leave early because she said she was in love with someone who wasn't in love with her. Sandy Williams, her boss, asked her who it was and Smith said, "Tom Findlay, but it can never be because of my children."
Around 2:30 she spoke with Tom outside of Cosno and explained to him that David, her husband, was threatening to expose some damming information. When Tom questioned her about it, she told him he was going to expose her affair with Tom's father, J. Carey Findlay. Tom's reaction was that of shock, and he explained to her that they could never be intimate again, but could remain friends.
Later on in the day, Susan found Tom again to return a sweatshirt of his, but he didn't accept it and told her to keep it.
She got her kids from daycare and headed to Hickory Nuts, the only bar in town at that time. She pulled in when Sue Brown, marketing manager of Cosno, did and she pleaded with Sue to head back to Cosno with her to speak with Tom. Again. She needed someone to watch her kids while she attempted to speak with him. He was frustrated with her at this point. She wanted to apologize to him for lying to him about sleeping with his father, and wanted to just see his reaction to that. He quickly led her out of his office, and she told Sue Brown she "might just end it". She then drove Sue back to Hickory Nuts around 6PM.
At some point before 8PM, Susan called Hickory Nuts to speak with Sue Brown who was eating with Tom and a few other co-workers. Hickory Nuts staff brought Sue a cordless phone, and Susan asked Sue if Tom had asked about her. She told her he didn't.
She served her boys a pizza dinner and then around 8PM she decided to dress her children, place them in the Mazda with no shoes on, and she began driving around Union feeling lonelier than she ever felt in her life.
***
At approximately 9PM Shirley McCloud was relaxing at her home and just finishing up Tuesday's release of Union Daily. As she read, she started hearing wailing sounds coming from her porch, so she turned the porch light on and opened the door to see what was going on, and there was Susan Smith just crying hysterically. She screamed for Shirley to help her and said he's got my kids he's got my car please help! Shirley led Susan into her home where Susan told her lie for the first time - that she was carjacked by a black man. Shirley had her son, Rick Jr. place a call to 911.
At 9:12PM, the 911 dispatcher called for the Union County Sheriff's Office to send officers out to Shirley McCloud's residence. While awaiting the sheriff's office, Susan managed to calm down a bit, and she proceeded to tell Shirley the night's events when Shirley asked. Susan told her she was stopped at the red light at Monarch Mills and a black man jumped in and told her to drive. She asked him why was he doing this and he said shut up and drive or Ill kill you.
Susan continued and told Shirley that the man was giving her direction and she drove northeast of Union for about four miles until, he made her stop right past the sign. Shirley confirmed that the sign was for the John D. Long Lake, which was located several hundred yards outside of Shirleys front door. He told her to get out. He made her stop in the middle of the road. Nobody was coming, not a single car. She asked him, why couldn't she take her kids and Susan told Shirley that the man said, I dont have time. Susan went on to say that the man pushed her out of her car with a gun at her side. According to Susan, the man said not to worry and that he wasn't going to hurt her, and When he finally got her out he said he wasn't going to hurt her kids. Susan described how she had laid on the ground as the man drove away and both of her sons were crying out for their mother. After a while she got up, ran, and stopped when she reached Shirley McClouds porch.
Susan then asked to use the phone and she called her mother, stepfather, and David. Sheriff Wells showed up at this point, and he began to direct the search for the children. They were only a quarter mile from John D. Long Lake.
Sheriff Wells and his wife, Wanda, were good friends with Susan's brother Scotty and his wife, Wendy. Sheriff Wells knew of Susan this way. He asked her to tell him what happened, he took notes, and he realized that he didn't have the resources to find the children. So he contacted SLED, South Carolina Law Enforcement Decision, to get assistance they otherwise wouldn't have had.
While the search was transpiring, Susan's family and friends gathered at the McClouds. Around 12AM, they moved to Linda, Susan's mother's house. The drive over was the first clue that something wasn't right with Susan at all. Susan rode with her husband David, and she told him not to get angry but that Tom Findlay may come to see her. David couldn't believe what he was hearing. Their 2 sons were missing, and here she is worried about David becoming upset over her boyfriend rather than her being upset over the boys! Tom never showed up that night or in the later days to visit. The next day, October 26th, Tom rang Susan to express his sympathy, and instead of discussing her children, Susan incredulously wanted to move the topic to their relationship. He of course told her not to worry about their relationship, but about her children instead. This would be the only phone call she would receive from Tom Findlay.
October 26th was a busy day for all involved with Sheriff Wells getting the investigation more organized and calling in SLED for assistance. Divers came in and searched John D. Long lake, helicopters were deployed, and Sumter National Forest was searched. Wells also set Susan up with a sketch artist. Her initial description was vague, but then became more detailed as the sketch came along. She described him as a 40's black male with a dark knit shirt, cap, jeans, and a plaid jacket.
That day the Adam Walsh Center also became involved to assist with the search and they offered services such as media liaison. Margaret Frierson, Executive Director, and Charlotte Foster met with David, Susan, Bev, Linda, and Scotty, and they encouraged David to make a national plea for the return of his children. He was nervous, but he did. They also arranged for flyers to be printed up. They spoke at Bev and Linda's home for about 40 minutes, when David and Susan were needed up at the Sheriff's office. Margaret and Charlotte followed behind. While Susan was being questioned, Margaret and SLED investigator Eddie Harris helped David formulate a statement for national T.V. and news media. With his wife Susan by his side on the steps of the Union County Sheriff's office, he said this, "To whoever has our boys, we ask that you please don't hurt them and bring them back. We love them very much...I plead to the guy please return our children to us safe and unharmed. Everywhere I look, I see their play toys and pictures. They are both wonderful children. I don't know how else to put it. And I cant imagine life without them."
After the statement, David and Susan went back in for further questioning. Susan was interrogated for 6 hours. That evening Sheriff Wells requested that David A. Caldwell, Director of the Forensic Sciences Laboratory for the State Law Enforcement Division in Columbia, to interview Susan Smith.
October 27th David Caldwell drove to Union County and interviewed Susan Smith 3 times in the course of that day. What he found were many inconsistencies with her story. She had also failed her polygraph test(s); whereas, David passed his. She told Caldwell of the night in question that her son Michael had suggested going to walmart, but then she later admitted that it was her idea to go to walmart. She said she went to walmart twice that evening, but investigators interviewed employees who said they never saw her, her children, or her car there. When investigators told her this, she then admitted that she just rode around for hours and was afraid to tell investigators that.
She also told investigators that Michael suggested going to her friend Donna'a fiance Mithchell's house, and this lie is where the infamous stop light story came into play. She said she stopped at the light at the Monarch intersection, but that there were no other cars on the road. Well, Susan, investigators know beyond a shadow of a doubt you're lying at this point, because that light stays green and only changes when a car at the cross street stops and it changes it.
While Caldwell was interviewing Susan, David was telling other agents about her affairs. Agent Caldwell spoke to Susan about Tom breaking it off with her due to her children, and asked, "Did this fact play any role or have any bearing on the disappearance of your children?" Susan responded with a "tell". She said, "No man would make me hurt my children. They were my life." This indicates that she knew her boys were dead by speaking about them in the past tense.
Agent Caldwell really wanted to get to the bottom of why she didn't tell the truth about wal-mart, and he discussed their fussiness by saying, "is that why you killed them?" This engraged Susan. She slammed her fist on the table while saying, "You son of a bitch! How can you think that!" Susan left the interview room yelling, "I cant believe that you think I did it!"
Agent Caldwell, Roy Paschal the Forensic Sketch Artist, and the FBI polygraph examiner all noted strange things about Susan. Agent Caldwell said she would be sobbing at points but with no tears coming out of her eyes. The FBI agent noticed that she would make fake crying sounds without tears. Paschal said she was very vague with her description but then very detailed about certain things.
None of it was adding up.
The PROFILE:
The FBI was tasked with coming up with a profile of a homicidal mother, and low and behold, the profile matched Susan Smith to a T. It was almost as if the FBI profilers had done an biography on her.
Woman in her 20's
Suffers from depression and suicidal thoughts when rejected by lovers at time of murders
Grew up in poverty
Sexually and or physically abused
Undereducated
Enmeshed with her children
Isolated
Filial homicide may occur when the mother has suicidal thoughts, because she views her children as an extension of her rather than their own separate entities. Her expectations and isolation with the maternal responsibilities and self-destruction lead her to being enmeshed with her children.
In the days following, Agent Caldwell came up with a profile of Susan Smith and described her as cunning and cool. He developed a list of questions specifically for investigators to ask her daily, and made a game plan for the media. He wanted the media to descend upon union to cause Smith to confess. On October 28th, Sheriff Wells said they had not ruled Smith out as a suspect, and said, "We do not have a car, we do not have the children, we do not have the suspect." On October 29th, the Union Daily wrote a story about Susan's discrepancies. The pressure was on! There was also speculation about 2 white children riding around in a car with a black man with no sightings. Agent Caldwell also scripted the movements and choreographed the agents behavior when interrogating her to pressure her to confess. They all felt that she was culpable of the murders and that the car and the children had to be within a 2 mile radius of the McCloud home where Susan made that first phone call.
Finally on November 3rd, 1994, Susan Smith broke down and confessed to Sheriff Wells. At 1:40PM they met at The Family Center of the First Baptist Church facing one another in fold out chairs, knee to knee. Wells confronted Susan about all the discrepancies and told one little lie. You see, once she was confronted about the light issue at the Monarch intersection, she changed her story to the Carlisle intersection. Wells told her that he had undercover officers at that intersection that night and no one saw the alleged carjacker. Susan asked him to pray with her, and he closed his prayer with this, "Lord, we know that all things will be revealed to us in time." Wells then looked up at Susan and said, "Susan, it is time."
Susan dropped her head and sobbed, "I am so ashamed, I am so ashamed." She asked Sheriff Wells for his gun to commit suicide. Sheriff Wells asked Susan why she wanted to do that and her response was, "You don't understand, my children are not all right."
Other agents entered the room and they obtained her confession
The Written Confession:
Susan Smith's handwritten confession
The following is a transcript of Susan Smith's handwritten confession to drowning her 2-year-old son Michael and 14-month-old son Alex. Her statement was released Nov. 22, 1994.
When I left my home on Tuesday, Oct. 25, I was very emotionally distraught. I didn't want to live anymore! I felt like things could never get any worse. When I left home, I was going to ride around a little while and then go to my mom's.
As I rode and rode and rode, I felt even more anxiety coming upon me about not wanting to live. I felt I couldn't be a good mom anymore, but I didn't want my children to grow up without a mom. I felt I had to end our lives to protect us from any grief or harm.
I had never felt so lonely and so sad in my entire life. I was in love with someone very much, but he didn't love me and never would. I had a very difficult time accepting that. But I had hurt him very much, and I could see why he could never love me.
When I was at John D. Long Lake, I had never felt so scared and unsure as I did then. I wanted to end my life so bad and was in my car ready to go down that ramp into the water, and I did go part way, but I stopped. I went again and stopped. I then got out of the car and stood by the car a nervous wreck.
Why was I feeling this way? Why was everything so bad in my life? I had no answers to these questions. I dropped to the lowest point when I allowed my children to go down that ramp into the water without me.
I took off running and screaming "Oh God! Oh God, no! "What have I done? Why did you let this happen? I wanted to turn around so bad and go back, but I knew it was too late. I was an absolute mental case! I couldn't believe what I had done.
I love my children with all my (a picture of a heart). That will never change. I have prayed to them for forgiveness and hope that they will find it in their (a picture of a heart) to forgive me. I never meant to hurt them!! I am sorry for what has happened and I know that I need some help. I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself for what I have done.
My children, Michael and Alex, are with our Heavenly Father now, and I know that they will never be hurt again. As a mom, that means more than words could ever say.
I knew from day one, the truth would prevail, but I was so scared I didn't know what to do. It was very tough emotionally to sit and watch my family hurt like they did. It was time to bring a peace of mind to everyone, including myself.
My children deserve to have the best, and now they will. I broke down on Thursday, Nov. 3, and told Sheriff Howard Wells the truth. It wasn't easy, but after the truth was out, I felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders.
I know now that it is going to be a tough and long road ahead of me. At this very moment, I don't feel I will be able to handle what's coming, but I have prayed to God that he give me the strength to survive each day and to face those times and situations in my life that will be extremely painful. I have put my total faith in God, and he will take care of me.
[Signed] Susan V. Smith
[Dated] 11/3/94 5:05 p.m.
Sheriff Wells then had to confirm the whereabouts of Alex and Michael and break the news to the family. After 9 long days, the investigation was over, but the heartache was not. In fact, some of the details are so haunting that it's hard to fathom a mother could do something so cold-blooded.
During the trial it was revealed by one of the divers, Morrow, that when he was circling the car he saw a tiny hand against the window. Autopsies on November 4th revealed that the boys were alive when the car was submerged and that they drowned. That same day Susan wrote David a letter and repeatedly told him she was sorry along with whining how her feelings were getting lost in the wake of everyone else's. This and her written confession made David contemplate what kind of person she really was.
David also found out at the trial that Susan told investigators exactly where to look for the car, leading him to believe that she sat there and watched until her sons died. With experiments, it was found that it took 6 minutes for the car to fully submerge.
Another chilling revelation was that the car lights came on when the car was flipped over. To David it meant the unthinkable - that Susan intentionally left the lights on so she could see the car sink down.
Smith was represented by David Bruck, and Linda and Bev had to mortgage their house to pay for him. At that time, Bruck had only lost 3 cases out of 50 to the death penalty. Bev and Linda felt confident in his abilities. The prosecutor in the case was Tommy Pope, the youngest prosecutor in the state of SC at 32 years of age. Bruck proposed a plea deal to Pope asking for life in prison without the eligibility of parole. Pope rejected it and sought the death penalty but was unsuccessful. Bruck's strategy was to have the trial in Union rather than away from Union to get the sympathy from the small community. He had noticed that the racial tension had turned into prayer vigils for her, and that many thought she was mentally ill rather than evil . He was right. The jurors eventually sentenced her to 30 years in prison is is eligible for parole in November of 2024.
Before the trial Bev and Linda divorced, and David's divorce from Susan finalized. He was given the mazda and he destroyed it. In June, on father's day, Susan received a letter from Bev apologizing to her for molesting her and taking partial blame of the tragedy by saying, "My heart breaks for what I have done to you." Russell also wrote that, "I want you to know that you do not have all the guilt for this tragedy." A couple of days before the trial, Susan's Pastor Mark Long, announced that Susan had undergone a conversion and was baptized. Riiigghhhhhtttt how convenient were my thoughts and apparently many in the community felt the same.
The trial was short beginning on July 10th, 1995 and ending on July 22, 1995. It's noted that Judge Howard did not allow the jury to see the photos of the children after coming out of the lake, because he felt it could cause a prejudice, and he disallowed the prosecution to present their full case. One shocking moment was when Judge Howard allowed the defense motion to allow the jury to consider a charge of involuntary manslaughter and that only carried a penalty of 3 to 10 years. The jury deliberated for only 2 hours and came back with a verdict of guilty of 2 counts of murder. The jury was brought back for the penalty phase and they rejected the death penalty. Judge Howard handed down a sentence of 30 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
30 years has almost passed, and Susan Smith has a new boyfriend while behind bars. They write one another letters. A family member of Susan's said that Susan wants to get out and lead a normal life. Her ex-husband David is making it his life's mission to make sure she stays behind bars forever.
I take my 2 youngest boys to John. D. Long lake frequently. It's serene and beautiful. The road to get there is winding and wooded like a mountain road. But the history is so hard to shake when you're there. One of my sons is currently 3 years old, and I cannot imagine watching him drown. When I sit at the lake and envision a car submerging with 2 little boys, even if they aren't my own, I can't think of an instance where I wouldn't be actively trying to save them them myself. Susan had a troubled life, and for that I have compassion for her. But what she did was horrific. Do I think she could get out of prison and refrain from killing other people? yes. But I don't think a 30 year sentence is enough of a punishment for such a heartbreaking crime.
Imagine waking up. It's cold. You're strapped into the car and it's filling with water. You start screaming and wailing, not knowing how to find a solution with your 3 year old mind. You look over and your young brother is also strapped into his carseat. You look the other way, and you see. your mother watching you. You wonder what you did for her to allow this to happen? Why isn't she saving you? Your head's going under, but...she's still watching. You can't breathe, your lungs fill with water, and you know she's still watching.
Written By: Jennifer
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