Susan Smiths most intense extramarital affair was with a newfound employee at Conso Products in 1993. He had her removed from the office. Though Smith was considered an intelligent and popular student among her peers, officials at her high school knew otherwise. Not that it justifies a single thing, but her life wasn't easy. "It has very much sent a devastating ripple through Conso and the community," said Jim Cooney, a company attorney. Era lo . Each infraction has resulted in the loss of privileges, including loss of visitation, canteen and telephone privileges. 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. He also said he didnt anticipate the woman being freed anytime soon. The notorious married mom who coldheartedly drowned her two adorable tots in 1994 has used cash from sleazy suitors and demented murder groupies to pay off prison pals to transform her into the cellblock . 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 . Smith hid it well. The authorities questioned both Susan and David Smith in hopes of getting some answers. ``To see unfolded before my eyes the principle of reaping and sowing, to lose Michael and . Refine Your Search Results. The following year, Rowe also pleaded guilty to having sex with Smith and was sentenced to five years probation. Back in the 1990s, Susan Smith claimed a Black man kidnapped her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander. They married on March 15th in 1991 due to Smith being pregnant. Start your free 7-day trial. Life in prison would make her eligible for parole in 30 years. Roughly a month before the murder, Susan Smith was dating Tom again and planning their future together in her mind. 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. She is serving a life sentence in Leath Correctional institute in North Carolina after she eventually confessed to the murder of her children. On top of that, Ms. Smith later said that a cause of her depression was her breakup with Conso employee Tom . Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? ``If I had known at the time what the results of my sins would be, I would have mustered the strength to behave according to my responsibility, he wrote. 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. The search gained national attention. They both came from families tormented by tragedy. 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. Both Smith and Findlay worked at Conso. 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. The sketch described half of the African American men who lived in the community. 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. A newspaper claimed that the sexual relations between them had continued until six months before the murders. On the third day of the search, there seemed to be a breakthrough. Eventually, Susan Smith was arrested. 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. Mayor Jane Castors partner vowed not to lobby the city. 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. On October 5, 1994, an unassuming 23-year-old woman named Susan Smith seized the national spotlight when she called police to report that her two children had been kidnapped by an anonymous Black man during a carjacking. Smith became obsessive about Tom. 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. In addition to Findlay, several other Conso Products employees testified. People Magazine. 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. But Smith claims she has been misunderstood. He is the elusive ex-lover who told Smith he couldnt continue their relationship because of her children, the man whose Auburn University sweatshirt Smith was wearing the night her children were killed, the man the prosecution says is the motive for Susan Smiths crime. Susan Smith (born Susan Vaughan) led a troubled childhood, though nobody at her high school would have noticed. From the moment Susan reported her kids missing, a nationwide search began for her car. Tom Findlay's letter, as gentle as it tried to be, had brought Susan Smith in direct and brutal contact with her own lies, deceit, narcissism, and lust. Among those are rare examples in which mothers kill their own children. She let her car roll down the boat ramp but soon stopped it by pulling the emergency brake. She attended and graduated from Lexington High School in 1957. Mr. Findlay said no. When Susan Smith's story was first broadcast to the public she appeared to be a distraught mother desperate for the return of her two children. On October 17, 1994, just days before Susan and Davids divorce papers were filed, Tom Findlay sent a Dear John letter to Susan. The two boys were strapped into their car seats inside the vehicle at the time. Susan Smith later confessed that the carjacking story was false and that she had driven her Mazda into John D. Long Lake in order to drown her children. [Watch Cellmate Secrets: Susan Smith on Lifetimes site and apps.]. Some think Smith hoped to land one of them. Smith's incarceration has been marred by disciplinary infractions involving drug use and sex with prison employees. susan smith child killer prison photos 1 Twisted baby killer Susan Smith has gotten a glam makeover from her jailbird squad! Company business required them to travel to Atlanta, New York, London and Frankfurt, Germany. Susan Smith falsely accused a black man of carjacking her children in 1994 Andrew Smith, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Prosecutor Tommy Pope told reporters he would try in closing arguments to emphasize the character of the crime. 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. On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith trapped her 3-year-old son Michael and 14-month old son Alex in her car and rolled them into John D. Long Lake in Union County. In her written confession, Susan Smith claimed that she was suicidal on the evening of October 25th. That is so far from the truth. 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. The married man, likely worried about his mistress getting pregnant again and being told he was the father, ended their affair. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think that I hurt my children in order to be with a man. In 2000, an imprisoned Smith became embroiled in controversy again after allegedly having sex with a prison guard named Houston Cagle. She made a tearful plea on national television for their safe return. Susan Smith. Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and is serving a life sentence. During the pregnancy, David started his own affair due to Smiths distant and irritable ways. Everything came to a head on October 5, 1994, when Smith took her sons out for a ride on a South Carolina night. You can also find more information, resources, and support at www.thehotline.org. Russell asked the jury to spare Smiths life, saying he bore some of the responsibility of the crime. 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. Her stepfatherbegan sexually abusing her during her high school years, per the outlet. Per People, this included "self-mutilation and the use and possession of narcotics or marijuana," and as a result, each infraction cost her "loss of privileges, including loss of visitation, canteen and telephone privileges." Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds. 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. Smith was willingly sleeping with Bev, and also began sleeping with Tom Findlay. ``When the line was crossed, I failed you, Linda, God and the rest of my family, Russell read from the letter. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty ImagesThe funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. Susan Smith. I was not myself, I was a good mother and I loved my boys. ``We loved those kids like they were our own, Garner said through tears. The lake where Smith killed Michael and Alex went on to become a macabre tourist attraction. While on the other hand, the prosecution showed the jury the devious and manipulative side of Susan Smith, whose only major concern was her own desires. Later that day, Susan met the police behind the local church and finally broke down. Susan Smith - Victim or Murderer tells the story of the crime that has captured the interest of the American people. The defense also profited from an unexpected disclosure during Mr. Findlay's testimony. David was already engaged to another woman, but he broke it off to pursue a relationship with Smith. "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. She reddened slightly and stared back at him. Following the jury's decision, David Smith, expressed his disappointment with the sentence. "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. 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. What Made a Mother Kill Her Young Son by Dropping Him Off a Bridge? Published on July 9, 2021 11:53 AM. She was born on September 26th in 1971, the youngest of three kids. On cross-examination, Mrs. Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, asked Mr. Findlay whether he had ever had reason to believe that Mrs. Smith would harm her children to win him back. He holds dual bachelor's degrees from Pace University and a master's degree from New York University. 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. As Susan Smith and Findlay talked on the phone, David Smith jumped out of the closet. In an attempt to get a quick confession, police confronted Smith and accused her of being involved in the disappearance of Michael and Alex. The company recently donated that money to day-care centers in the area. Closing arguments in the trials penalty phase were to begin today, with jury deliberations possibly starting this afternoon. After learning about the murder of Susan Smiths children, read about Texas woman Andrea Yates drowning her kids to save them from the Devil. Findlay said he felt so threatened, he slept with a handgun under his pillow. Tragedy struck in 1977 when her father, Harry Ray, committed suicide. romance just days before Smith committed the crimes. Later that year, she attempted suicide yet again. In 2015, she broke the silence with a letter written to the State Newspaper. Halleck said that she had sex with Tom Findlay, 28, the textile heir, but that he was not the main focus of her life. The ex-husband of convicted child-killer SusanSmith has remarried and has two new children.David Smith appeared on C-N-N's "Larry King Live," last night. He swore to never do it again and agreed to family therapy, but then kept abusing Susan who revealed as much in February 1988. "They were her world," he said. Javed Iqbal, a Pakistani serial killer who killed exactly 100 young boys, ranging from age 6 to 16. In the hospital, Smith admitted when she was thirteen she had attempted to kill herself in a similar fashion. TO BE HONEST WITH YOU THERE WAS A TIME WHEN I WISHED THAT SHE WOULD DIE IN JAIL, HOWEVER, IF SHE MAKES PAROLE, MY ADVICE TO HER IS THAT SHE WOULD NOT RECEIVE A WARM WELCOME IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Putnam was the first FBI agent to be charged in a homicide. All Rights Reserved. But more than the physical pleasure, he said, she loved. David (who had advocated for a death sentence), intends to testify at every parole hearing his ex-wife has to ensure she never gets out. 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. Browse 35 susan smith criminal stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. 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. And I don't want to be responsible for anyone else's children, either.". Smith took the breakup badly and attempted a second suicide taking both Tylenol and aspirin together. Her sentence? Almost as soon as they were wed, the Smiths would begin relentlessly arguing and cheating on each other. Smith made an emotional plea on the television for the safe return of her children. Hulsen had a more sympathetic attitude toward Smith, saying she wasnt one to judge. But the sympathy she gained quickly faded as the evidence began to show that she was responsible for her sons' deaths. The funeral of Susan Smiths kids, Michael and Alexander. He also testified that Susan Smith was intimidated by her husband. She was very frightened.. She is now working as a ward keeper assistant and interacts sparingly with other guards and inmates. 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. UNION, S.C. Susan Smith's stepfather, who molested her as a teenager and then resumed their sexual encounters after she married, came to court Thursday to claim partial responsibility for the. 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. In this (thankfully) small pool, there are still those that stand out in the minds of the public and perhaps one of the most well-known in the U.S. is convicted murderer Susan Smith, who, per A&E, was found guilty in 1995 for intentionally killing both of her sons. On that occasion, Mr. Findlay said, Mr. Smith threatened to hurt him if he ever called again. ``And yet we love Susan, too. Even the media took off the sketch of the carjacker after a while. 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. 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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. But Cooney said the hilltop estate has been on the market for 18 months. 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 has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself, the letter read. But testimony in Smith's murder trial has thrust Union County's biggest employer into the national spotlight. When it comes to true crime, some of the cases that seem to shock people the most are also the most incomprehensible. Distraught, Smith got her children into her car and began to drive toward her mothers house. Susan J. Tom had caught Smith in a hot tub while making out with someone elses husband at a party. "I had to put my light against the window, and peered in," Mr. Morrow testified yesterday in the murder trial of Susan Smith. 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. 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.. 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. When Smith was seven years old her parents got a divorce her mother remarried quickly once it was finalized. The couple decided to marry when Susan discovered that she was pregnant. 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. Findlay testified as a prosecution witness, but his sympathetic testimony may have helped the defense. Later, another prison worker, Alfred Rowe, pleaded guilty to an illegal sexual relationship with Smith. He sent her a lot of money.. The case attracted international attention because of her false claim that a black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking, but instead. Findlay, a slight, balding graphic designer, appeared to exchange a quick half-smile with Smith from the stand during a break in his testimony about their brief fling, which he said began. Though the court of public opinion has largely sided with the prosecution, the state will have to actually consider Smiths pleas in 2024, when shell be eligible for parole. [.] While following other leads about the supposed black carjacker. 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