He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. The inconsistencies grew more and more, and on the eighth day, Susan changed her written statement, when police confronted her with a new reason, why her version of the supposed abduction didnt add up. By November Smith announced she was pregnant again and the marriage had new life in it both literally and figuratively. She tried anything she could think of to get him back. "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. Just three hours later, Susan Smith put her kids in her 1990 Mazda Protege and set out for a drive. As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. On Oct. 25, they had a particularly upsetting conversation. 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. All Rights Reserved. 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 . Findlay testified as a prosecution witness, but his sympathetic testimony may have helped the defense. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources. One of the revelers, Susan. Findlay, who The New York Times described at the time of Smith's trial as "the son of a rich industrialist," was indeed connected to the place Smith herself worked. He said they had sex. One day in October 1994, Susan Smiths kids, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, joined her for a drive. Questions and issues about this case can be found in conversation across the United States. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesThe funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. 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. But testimony in Smith's murder trial has thrust Union County's biggest employer into the national spotlight. Smith interacted with young women who had risen through the company's ranks to sales and marketing jobs paying more than $30,000. He pleaded guilty and spent three months in jail. The funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. By March of 92, the couple separated. 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. Life in prison would make her eligible for parole in 30 years. When she was spared the death penalty, her husband stated on the courthouse steps, Ill never forget what Susan has done, and Ill never forget Michael and Alex. He also expressed disappointment with her sentence: Me and my family, of course, are disappointed that the death penalty wasnt the verdict.. ``When the line was crossed, I failed you, Linda, God and the rest of my family, Russell read from the letter. Today Susan Smith is incarcerated at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina. This Friday, the world will hear from David Smith again, 16 years after his ex-wife, Susan Smith, drowned their sons, Michael and Alex, in John D. Long Lake in Union County. And Smith already had two sons. At trial, Smiths defense lawyers claimed she was severely mentally ill and pointed to her troubled life as cause. David was already engaged to another woman, but he broke it off to pursue a relationship with Smith. Published on July 9, 2021 11:53 AM. At thirteen Smith attempted suicide, though nobody knew. Later that day, Susan met the police behind the local church and finally broke down. Smith was cited as having strange reactions for a grieving mother, being overly concerned about her appearance before going on television, and even sometimes asking about Tom Findlay. Tom Findlay, according to the Chicago Tribune. Findlay put an end to their relationship in the fall of 1994 but not before he told Smith that, per A&E, that part of their breakup had to do with the fact that he didn't want children. On the second day of the search, Susan Smith took a lie detector test and failed. But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasnt ready for a relationship involving kids. She was very frightened.. A divorced father of three, Russell was a thriving stockbroker, and a member of both South Carolinas Republican community and the Christian Coalition. A nation watches horrified as the grieving mother makes emotional pleas on television for the safe return of her two small boys, three-year old Michael, and 14-month old Alex. "I had to put my light against the window, and peered in," Mr. Morrow testified yesterday in the murder trial of Susan Smith. Findlay said he felt so threatened, he slept with a handgun under his pillow. Browse from a variety of styles, sets, and sizes of women's wear for every fit and occasion. In addition to Findlay, several other Conso Products employees testified. She was strangled by her handler and lover, FBI agent Mark Putnam. Later, another prison worker, Alfred Rowe, pleaded guilty to an illegal sexual relationship with Smith. There was no motive, as it was not even a planned event. Her father killed himself when she was just six years old, and she tried to follow suit at age 13. It was later revealed that he had molested Susan when she was a teenager. Both Smith and Findlay worked at Conso. Susan said that there were no cars in the intersection when the black man came and took her car away, but that light would only turn red for the direction she was traveling if there was cross traffic.. If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233 or TTY 18007873224. The Susan I knew was not a vindictive person.. . 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. Only time will tell if this will aid in keeping her behind bars for good. Refine Your Search Results. Smiths defense attorney David Bruck argued that her actions were rooted in mental illness spurred by the suicide of her father, sexual abuses, and emotional rejections. Updated: 8:42 AM EDT July 18, 2003. Print length 239 pages Language English Publisher Pinnacle Publication date August 1, 1996 Dimensions 4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches ISBN-10 Tom Findlay, her lover and the boss' son in the office where she worked as a secretary and earned $17,000 a year, had written her the now-infamous letter telling her he was not ready to be a father. And I don't want to be responsible for anyone else's children, either.". "I am not the monster society thinks I am," she wrote. Florida executes Donald Dillbeck for 1990 Tallahassee murder, Held without charge, a Miami inmates unborn child asks court for release in odd case, One step led Tampa runner, Gasparilla entrant to big weight loss, huge life gains, Hillsborough must right-size its school system | Editorial, Barnett agrees to $11.4-million in refunds. At home, however, he was molesting his 15-year-old stepdaughter, fondling her breasts and genitals. We can only hope. Susan navigated that grief by keeping his coin collection and an audio recording of her fathers voice, but tried to kill herself at 13. 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 . Tom Findlay is the son of Cary Findlay, president of the company. The newlyweds soon started to have fights, and as a result they were separated seven months after their marriage. A letter. In 1994, Smith strapped her two sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, into their car seats and pushed the vehicle into a lake. During the pregnancy, David started his own affair due to Smiths distant and irritable ways. Browse 35 susan smith criminal stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Almost as soon as they were wed, the Smiths would begin relentlessly arguing and cheating on each other. It drew countless visitors who wanted to take . Its frustrating to say the least. After learning about the murder of Susan Smiths children, read about Texas woman Andrea Yates drowning her kids to save them from the Devil. The Tribune wrote that in a letter Findlay sent breaking up with Smith, it implied that "he broke off the affair, in part . Michael and Alex Smith were buried together in the same casket on November 6, 1994. Susan Leigh Smith (nee' Vaughan) was an American killer who was responsible for the murders of her two children, Michael Daniel, and Alexander Tyler Smith, on October 24, 1994. Her trial began soon after. Financial analysts who follow Conso, a publicly owned company whose stock is traded in the over-the-counter market, said they do not think Conso will be damaged by the trial. 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. 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. She is now working as a ward keeper assistant and interacts sparingly with other guards and inmates. Not surprisingly, Smiths life in prison has been fairly rocky. Those children had a right to enjoy life, and she had no right to take life from them! Though shes eligible for parole in just a few short years, it remains unclear whether Smith will be able to convince a parole board to release her, given the severity of her crimes and her prior record of infractions in prison. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. Smith, 23, is charged with two counts of murder in the Oct. 25 killings of Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months. That 28-year-old witness, Tom Findlay, also wrote that he was afraid that their backgrounds -- he was a child of privilege, she a child of a mill worker who committed suicide when his wife left him -- were just too far apart. For nine days, she made tearful pleas for their safe return. But more than the physical pleasure, he said, she loved feeling close, being held. In regard to Cary Findlay giving up his job titles, he said S. Duane Southerland was hired as chief executive so Cary Findlay could spend more time on strategic planning. But eventually, her lies came crashing down and the horrible truth about what happened to Susan Smiths children was revealed. "It's been a very long, tough roadsome severe depression," he says . "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. The friend she said she was going to visit was not at her home that evening. For nine days, she went on television, pleading tearfully for their safe return. Susan Smith (ne Daniels 1961 [3] - June 8, 1989) was an American FBI informant. ], On July 22, 1995, Smith was convicted of both boys murders and sentenced to life in prison. In a long day of testimony, the relationship between Smith and Findlay took center stage. 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. TOM FINDLAY'S TESTIMONY: Newly resurfaced . According to aTIME, Smith attempted suicide when she was 13, though her mother and Smith's stepfather "refused" to hospitalize her. Susan took a lie detector test and failed. That 28-year-old witness, Tom Findlay, also wrote that he was afraid that their backgrounds -- he was a child of privilege, she a child of a mill worker who committed suicide when his wife left. Then, in the fall of 1994, an employee named Susan Smith brutally drowned her two sons. Smith was reprimanded by her mom for making the issue public. Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and is serving a life sentence. [4] She was sentenced to life in prison and won't be eligible for . "Conso is an outlet for fantasy," said Mike Stevens, a commercial printer who does work for Conso. The couple were very co-dependent on one another, the early days of their marriage being filled with comforting one another over their losses. Smith hid it well. Smith has spent more than half of her life in prison. Related To . Bev was temporarily forced to move out of the family house. Inside the car with the bodies of Mrs. Smith's sons -- Michael, 3 years old, and Alex, 14 months -- was a letter from the man she loved telling her that their relationship would never work, in part because of her children. 2. Leaving them strapped into their car seats, she drove her car into John D. Long Lake, where they drowned to death. Due to a tumultuous marriage between her parents, full of aggression, they divorced when she was seven years old, and soon after, her father Harry, at the age of 37, committed suicide. Per NBC, their marriage was marred by periods of separation, which ended in a final, though unofficial, split and laid the groundwork for what was to come. 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. Snort, booty bump, swallow, shoot. Despite the animosity in the marriage both parents were seen as devoted to the children. Townspeople speculate that revelations from the Smith investigation prompted Cary Findlay to try to sell his 13-acre estate, just outside of town, and to step down as president and chief executive officer this spring. The letter included reasons to end their relationship, the reasons being differences in their backgrounds. All the conspiracies surrounding Nicola Bulleys disappearance and death, Who killed Jeffrey Epstein? He urged a jury Thursday to spare her life, saying he bore some of the responsibility for Ms. Smith's crime. During Smiths murder trial, her stepfather, Beverly Russell, testified that he and Smith had a consensual sexual relationship two months before she drowned her sons. 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. She divulged her ongoing relationship with her stepfather, Bev, and even admitted she had an affair with Toms father. It's been almost 30 years since Smith was put away behind bars to serve a life sentence, and she is next eligible for parole in 2024. Susan Smith, a mother from South Carolina, was convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in South Carolina Lake. 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 mom did it, the question was soon becoming more obvious as the search continued. But the sympathy she gained quickly faded as the evidence began to show that she was responsible for her sons' deaths. He urged a jury Thursday to spare her life, saying he bore some of the responsibility for Ms. Smiths crime. I've seen her do it all," Smith says, before adding, "My main purpose was to bring her her pills.". UNION, S.C. (AP) _ Years after admitting he molested his stepdaughter Susan Smith when she was 16, Beverly Russell testified that they had consensual sex two months before she drowned her sons. You can also find more information, resources, and support at www.thehotline.org. 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. . It is highly unlikely Susan will make paroleat least not the first time, Ozmint noted. It is a story that will not go away. She seduced us with a carjacking gone wrong two little boys were missing along with their mom's Mazda. Hours later, she called emergency services, frantic, and alleged that an unknown Black man had kidnapped three-year-old Michael and Alex, who had only celebrated his first birthday two months prior. Susan was working at the local grocery store when she began a relationship with a co-worker and high school friend named David Smith. However, after a nine-day . Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens. 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. Her sentence? Smith became obsessive about Tom. Eventually, Christie realized that Susan was a master manipulator and they grew apart. At least 10 Conso employees were subpoenaed as possible witnesses, and five have testified in the trial. Susan was secretly dating a man who didnt want children, so she decided to kill her children. Shop today There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. (Cary Findlay . The defense told the jurors that shed been sexually molested for years as a child, dealt with the suicide of her father at the age of 6, and tried to kill herself twice as a teenager. [Watch Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith on Lifetimes site and apps.]. Her mother Linda, weeks after her divorce, took up a new relationship. The idea that she would kill her . Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it was later revealed that he molested. I knew was not at her home that evening tearfully for their safe return as Susan put! Findlay took center stage himself when she was going to visit was not a... Very co-dependent on one another over their losses will tell if this will aid in keeping her behind for... Person.. she decided to kill her children guilty to an illegal sexual with. Kids in her 1990 Mazda Protege and set out for a drive funeral... 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