Findlay said he felt so threatened, he slept with a handgun under his pillow. 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. As for Susan Smith, whatever we learn and eventually come to understand about the motivations behind her horrible crime, she will always remain . 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 's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars . Her father died by suicide when Susan was just 6 years old, and Susan herself tried to commit suicide at age 13. Smith interacted with young women who had risen through the company's ranks to sales and marketing jobs paying more than $30,000. 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. "In perspective, that is a glitzy operation for people born in Union who have never traveled beyond the emotional boundaries of Union County. On October 17, 1994, just days before Susan and Davids divorce papers were filed, Tom Findlay sent a Dear John letter to Susan. The police became suspicious of the inconsistencies in Smiths story, and facts that didnt line up. But testimony in Smith's murder trial has thrust Union County's biggest employer into the national spotlight. She divulged her ongoing relationship with her stepfather, Bev, and even admitted she had an affair with Toms father. Once Susan Smith recovered she began a new relationship with high school friend and fellow co-worker David Smith. The mom of two made headlines at. Did Prince Andrew fly on Jeffrey Epsteins plane Lolita Express? But the defense may have also profited from his testimony. "Conso is one fine small company," said Kay Norwood, a textile analyst for Interstate/Johnson Lane. Print length 239 pages Language English Publisher Pinnacle Publication date August 1, 1996 Dimensions 4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches ISBN-10 She pleaded for the safe return of her boys, 14-month-old Alexander and. When Susan Smiths ex-boyfriend Tom Findlay climbed onto the witness stand Wednesday afternoon, he glanced quickly at her and smiled kindly. Yet, like many institutions in this close-knit town, Conso is deeply intertwined with the people of the community, who cross paths at work, at church and at their children's Saturday morning baseball games. She told me David knew about a relationship she had had and was going to make it public, Findlay said. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. It drew countless visitors who wanted to take . After her mother remarried, Smiths new stepfather began to molest her. Keep on scrolling to find out more. The sketch described half of the African American men who lived in the community. At trial, Smiths defense lawyers claimed she was severely mentally ill and pointed to her troubled life as cause. Ostensibly, one for the remainder of her life. 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.. Initially, there was an outpouring of support for the young mother whose sons had been kidnapped by a mysterious carjacker. Smith wrote David an apology letter which devolved into laments of everyone elses grief taking from her own feelings. Putnam was the first FBI agent to be charged in a homicide. Smith was not one to quietly let it happen though, instead, she outed him. Tom Begaye Jr. left the 11-year-old child to die in the desert after "repeatedly hitting her on the head and face with a tire iron." . Mayor Jane Castors partner vowed not to lobby the city. Life in prison would make her eligible for parole in 30 years. 2. Smith hid it well. All Filters. (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. Why did Susan Smith drive her two sons into a lake. Then, after insulting Findlay by claiming she slept with his father, he asked her to leave. 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. She attended and graduated from Lexington High School in 1957. Smith, 23, is charged with two counts of murder in the Oct. 25 killings of Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months. He pleaded guilty and spent three months in jail. 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 . 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 . When Smith initially claimed her boys had been kidnapped by a carjacker, Conso offered a $25,000 reward for tips about the alleged abductor. Susan Smith killings: . Under South Carolina law, Smith will be eligible for parole in 30 years, although the notorious nature of her crime makes it unlikely she will ever be released. The composite drawing of the carjacker was so generic that it raised suspicion. According to the magazine, however, the cards are stacked against her: aside from her status as a murderer, her criminal record which was obtained by People contained information which revealed Smith had "been disciplined at least five times for various infractions." The Susan Smith I know is very caring, very loving, a good friend to everyone, not just me, he said. Bev was temporarily forced to move out of the family house. Following the jury's decision, David Smith, expressed his disappointment with the sentence. She said that she was planning to kill herself and take her children with her, but after driving around Union for an hour, she pulled into the access road at John D. Long Lake. Findlay admitted seeing Smith three times on that fateful day, and that she had been overwrought. America's original most-hated mom Susan Smith was found in a pool of blood in her prison cell after she slashed her wrists during one of her bizarre cutting rituals, according to reports. Unbeknownst to Smith, Tom was also preparing to break up with her. As she approached John D. Long Lake, she rolled her car straight into the water, then fled the scene and left her two children to drown. In the letter she claimed that she intended to kill herself with her children, but she changed her plan in the final moment. 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. Her father killed himself when she was just six years old, and she tried to follow suit at age 13. The motive behind Susan Smiths murdering her children was indeed a shocking one. The two boys were strapped into their car seats inside the vehicle at the time. Susan Smith (born Susan Vaughan) led a troubled childhood, though nobody at her high school would have noticed. A staff writer for All Thats Interesting, Marco Margaritoff has also published work at outlets including People, VICE, and Complex, covering everything from film to finance to technology. In addition to Findlay, several other Conso Products employees testified. I was not myself, I was a good mother and I loved my boys. She let her car roll down the boat ramp but soon stopped it by pulling the emergency brake. During her trial, her defense tried to present Susan Smith as a woman with a troubled past. When Susan Smith was sixteen years old her stepfather began to treat her differently he was sexually abusing her. Her first parole hearing will be in 2025 she will be fifty-three. Susan Smith Trial: 1995 . "Conso is an outlet for fantasy," said Mike Stevens, a commercial printer who does work for Conso. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. As the daily interrogation proceeded, the police discovered inconsistencies in Susans story. 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. She was a leader in her schools Civitan Club, which was for volunteering to help around the community, and in her senior yearbook she was titled friendliest female. All the conspiracies about this financier, 'Dateline': The insane story behind the Chris Smith murder. I was not in my right mind.". While juggling multiple lovers Smith became pregnant and got an abortion. ], On July 22, 1995, Smith was convicted of both boys murders and sentenced to life in prison. 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. Excerpts from a letter Susan Smith wrote to Tom Findlay on Oct. 17, and his reply, written the same day and given to her Oct. 18. The case attracted international attention because of her false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, but instead. Mr. Findlay, who smiled briefly at Mrs. Smith when he took the stand, characterized her as a sweet, loving person, not the monster that the prosecution hopes to portray. Defense attorney David Bruck declined to preview his presentation. He swore to never do it again and agreed to family therapy, but then kept abusing Susan who revealed as much in February 1988. She thought he tapped her phones and followed her. She was heartbroken because Tom Findlay, her ex-boyfriend, had recently broken up with her. Findlay painted a picture of Susan Smith as a good friend and caring mother who was also suicidal and unstable. Obituary. (Cary Findlay . As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. Both Smith and Findlay worked at Conso. Online Exclusive Wife of Former Prison Guard Who Had Affair With Child Killer Susan Smith Speaks Out The wife of a former prison guard is speaking out about his past sexual affair behind bars. 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. Findlay recalled Smith being upset because David knew, or so she thought, some information that he was going to make public that upset her. Its unclear just what this was, while it would later be revealed that Smith had continued having sexual relations with her former stepfather. Susan Smith was convicted of murdering her children on July 22, 1995. When the murders occurred, Smiththen married to a man named David Smithwas involved in an extramarital relationship with a wealthy man who reportedly didnt want kids. In her letter to The State, she wrote, I am not the monster society thinks I am, I am far from it., Something went very wrong that night. That disclosure concerned Mrs. Smith's estranged husband, David Smith, who, because of his grief over the loss of his sons, is expected to be one of the state's most compelling witnesses. Susan Smith was convicted on July 22, 1995 of murdering her two sons, 3-year-old Michael Daniel Smith, born October 10 and 14-month-old Alexander. I was not myself," she continued. [Watch true crime series and documentaries anytime with A&E Crime Central. But the Union, South Carolina moms dramatic story turned out to be a tall taleand nine days after those initial claims, Smith admitted there had been no assailant and no kidnapping. Later that year, she attempted suicide yet again. He said they had sex. Susan Smith in Findlay, OH 20 results - Susan Smith may also have lived outside of Findlay, such as Upper Sandusky, Ada and 2 other cities in Ohio. Findlay was one of nine witnesses Wednesday, the second day of testimony in a trial to decide whether Susan Smith lives or dies. It was later revealed that he had molested Susan when she was a teenager. He urged a jury Thursday to spare her life, saying he bore some of the responsibility for Ms. Smiths crime. 1000s of new photos added daily. A death sentence means a choice of electrocution or injection. 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. The residents did their part too. Tom Findlay is the son of Cary Findlay, president of the company. Susan Smith. Susan Smith. 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.. Susan was found guilty of killing Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, and sentenced to life in prison. In the decades since her conviction, Smith has said she regrets her crimes. He also didnt know that his wife had been dumped by a wealthy South Carolina man because he didnt want kids. At that point, says Rowe, "She could not longer get the male attention that she used as a drug.". He was subsequently fired from his job and spent three months in jail after pleading guilty to the illicit sexual relationship. However, support would soon turn to . Lived In Pittsburgh PA, Upper . 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. Smith made an emotional plea on the television for the safe return of her children. . Eventually, Christie realized that Susan was a master manipulator and they grew apart. Inside the Julia Wendall conspiracy, Did the Island Boys break up? He hadnt. Susan will have a chance of parole in November 2024, and at that point shell have been behind the bars for 30 years. 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.). 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. Then, learn about Alice Crimmins, the New York mom accused of killing her kids. Snort, booty bump, swallow, shoot. Lived In Ridgeway VA, Union SC, Bennettsville SC. While he was on the stand, jurors heard two intimate letters, one Smith wrote to Findlay and one he wrote in return. She was a leader in her school's Civitan Club, which was for volunteering to help around the community, and in her senior yearbook she was titled "friendliest female". Susan Smith (born Susan Vaughan) led a troubled childhood, though nobody at her high school would have noticed. Susan Smith (ne Daniels 1961 [3] - June 8, 1989) was an American FBI informant. The version Susan Smith told was a Southern gothic nightmare come true on the evening news. 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susan smith tom findlay pictures