"This case was an awful case of tragedy from the beginning. "A passing love affair," Halleck called it. In the summer of 1988, Susan got a temporary job as a cashier at a local grocery store. She said she wanted to kill herself and her children, but in the end she got out of the car and sent the boys to their deaths. . Linda Russell told a social worker that Susan told her "Bev was sitting in the chair watching TV and Susan got in his lap and went to sleep." David felt left out. They parked on the ramp. In his Dear John letter, he was honest with the girl and told her they would never be together although I did think he sounds like a total D-bag (re: ..maybe somebay youll meet a nice guy like me. Whatever!). "If they'd asked me, I'd have said drain the lake, shut the place down," says Cathy Allen, a Union teacher. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). She goes to Tom and reveals that she has been having sex with her stepfather since she was 16. . Susan became famous for the brutality and coldness with which she killed her two children. The bottom line is: Im glad we are friends and if that is all we can be, then we will just have to do a hell of a job of being that. Who is he to be dishing out advice? Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, answered with Christ's defense of the adulterous wife in the Gospel according to John. He quickly pulled her out of his office. "You don't have all the guilt in this tragedy," he read, sobbing. A coincidence, says Vickie Shields, the local "hometown coordinator" under the South Carolina Downtown Development Corp. No one noticed the timing until too late. . 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. Tom Findlay, who was 27 at the time of the boys' deaths and who had an affair with her while she was separated from her husband, said in . But unfortunately, it wont be me. Was she just a victim of the abuse she suffered, or a cold-hearted murderer of her two young children? Sheriff Howard Wells served time for public corruption in 2010. Yet after hearing new and compelling testimony about her tangled life, the same jury that took only 2 1/2 hours to convict Susan Smith on July 22 decided just as quickly to spare her life last week--and voted unanimously. Susan was devastated by the end of her relationship with Tom. Susan gave the police the exact distance the car floated before sinking. "Had I been true to you in my responsibilities, you would have been stronger in yourself, not needing to be constantly supported and reassured emotionally. Last summer, Tim and Angie Phillips came with their three small children and two family friends, one of them a 3-year-old. 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. Besides, I want you to feel good about yourself, and I am afraid that if you sleep with B. , filed for divorce in September 1994 and it was finalized in May 1995. Findlay received a salary of $214,615 last year, according to company filings with the. The letter is dated Oct. 17, 1994. Im sure that your kids are good kids, but it really wouldnt matter how good they may be the fact is, I just dont want children. 'Octomom' Nadya Suleman Is a Proud Mom of 14: See Her Kids Today! Susan Smith had fallen in love with her supervisor at work, Tom Findlay, a wealthy businessman, and had an affair with him. The emerging facts of her chaotic life--her father's suicide, her molestation by her politically prominent stepfather, her failed marriage and the tabloid prurience of her repeated love affairs-seemed to make her a symbol of small-town decadence. Cellmate Secrets premieres Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. on Lifetime. Nov 01, 2008 #1 28 year old Tom Findlay had no idea when he began a relationship with Susan Smith, who worked within his father's company, that his name would be irrevocably linked with a tragedy that horrified the state, the nation, and many around the world. SC State House ``This is a difficult letter for me to write because I know how much you think of me. I was a good mother, and I loved my boys. The fact is, I just don't want children. Americans seem guilty of vast hypocrisy. The solution for the moment seemed to be to buy a house, where everything would be different. Susans ex, Tom Findlay, ironically went on to find happiness with a girlfriend and HER TWO KIDS! And city and county leaders, who had to work together to prepare Union for a trial-time media deluge, allied again this year. Something went wrong and their Suburban rolled into the lake. "We all felt like Susan was a really disturbed person," said juror Deborah Benvenuti. David Smith, last anyone heard, had moved to Florida. He broke it off sometime in March, Findlay said, after David Smith caught them talking on the phone and angrily warned him to stay away from Susan. Even in the face of all the facts, David seemed to have some compassion for Susan. Crime.About.com Around 8 pm, Susan, in desperation, puts her two children in the car. The highway sign simply reads John D. Long Lake. But like I have told you before, there are some things about you that arent suited for me, and yes, I am speaking about your children. "But seeing you kiss another man put things back into perspective . "Every time we think it's all behind us, it comes up again," says June Miller, Union County's longtime clerk of court. Susan Smith was both perpetrator and victim. In Northern California, side grafting wasnt very successful either. ", To prosecutors, Findlay's emphasis on the children was Smith's motive for murder. And you know, nice girls dont sleep with married men. However, nine days later, she admitted that she had pushed the car into Lake John D. Long, drowning her sons, Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, who were strapped into the car seats. You are a true friend. In March 1992, the couple separates, and they try to save their marriage between comings and goings during the next seven months. "That's one of the things that helped the healing process," says the Rev. Russell, 48, was then active in South Carolina Republican politics and in Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition--but he is no longer, and the shattering disclosures triggered by his stepdaughter's prosecution are the reason. 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. Follow me on Instagram down below. In. 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. Because I come from a place where everyone had the desire and the money to go to college, having the responsibility of children at such a young age is beyond my comprehension. Beverly Bev Russell, a successful local businessman. She flirted with another man, and Tom, to judge by the Dear Jane letter he sent her two days later, was at least somewhat offended. They still receive gifts. Name: Susan Vaughan Smith D.O.B: September 26, 1971 Place of Birth: Union, South Carolina Parents: Linda & Harry Vaughan Conviction Date: July 22, 1995 Sentence: LIFE . ", Smith cried and hugged Bruck when the verdict was announced. He has turned to his part so often the spine is creased. Thank you for this well written article. Patrick is in there. At the age of 16 her stepfather started to molest her. Her experience as an accountant earned her a position at Conso Products. 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. He told her he felt like some kind of pervert when it happened." But like I have told you before, there are some things about you that aren't suited for me, and yes, I am speaking about your children. Ms. Smith's letter (handwritten, not dated): ``Dear Tom, ``Just a note to say thank you for everything. 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. ", Paul Patrick, a florist, says, "It was a real tragedy but I don't think anybody's still dwelling on it three years later. She worried about her hair and makeup in front of the television cameras and sometimes asked about Tom Findlays whereabouts. Tom Findlay, 28, is a graphic designer who works in his father's firm. You are the best friend anyone could ever have. Although Russell clearly initiated sexual contact, the case file suggests Susan may have led him on. Brazilian, 28 years old, medical professional. Her attitude toward the kidnapping of her children was extremely exaggerated. She asks the sheriff to pray with her, then confesses to the murders and tells police where to find the boys. I would hate for people to perceive you as an unreputable [sic] person. Brackett is grateful for the fellowship that grew from the Smith case. "She was crying--she was very upset," Findlay said. Findlay said his relationship with Smith then took confusing turns in the days before Smith killed her children. Brown or any other married man for that matter, you will lose your self-respect. Susan Smith called the police saying that she had her car stolen by a black man who kidnapped her two young children. What got into Susan Smith's mind that night, only the devil knows. "What's wrong?" 90 Day Fiance's Hamza's Green Card Status 'Battle' Amid Memphis Divorce, '90 Day Fiance' Star Memphis Smith Alleges Hamza Moknii Was 'Abusive', 90 Day's Hamza Requested Paternity Test for Daughter Amid Memphis Split. She kept those, too. , the woman who killed her young sons in 1994, will be explored in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries. Susan Smith's most intense extramarital affair was with a newfound employee at Conso Products in 1993. Something went very wrong that night. http://www.abcnews4.com/story/26887424/a-look-back-the-susan-smith-case. After the first sentence, insert eyes rolling in parentheses. THE MARGIN OF ERROR IS +/- 4 PERCENTAGE POINTS. What more is there to say?". Today on #CrimeStories: Her mother was never good at solving her emotional problems, and her fathers suicide seemed to create a wound that never healed. Thank you for your article. At this time Susan was having sex with at least three men. But unfortunately, it won't be me. You are a very special person and that is part of why making love to you is so wonderful. She gained the . "She was scared of David," Findlay testified. Since her arrest at South Carolinas Leath Correctional Institution, two guards have been punished for having sex with Smith. ", The urge to kill in the name of justice poses infernally tricky issues-and the outcome in the Smith case may be the clearest evidence yet of America's persistent ambivalence about capital punishment. Thank you for the info. After picking up her children from nursery, she stopped to chat with a friend in a parking lot and expressed her fears about Tom's reaction now that he knew she had slept with his father. . TUESDAY, Oct. 25 _ Ms. Smith tells authorities her two sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, were taken by a gunman who jumped into her car at a traffic light. Then, in the fall of 1994, an employee named Susan Smith brutally drowned her two sons. And special thanks to my fellow true crime buffs in the True Crime Discussions group on FB, especially PAT! Killing her sons was a horrifying act that bespeaks a personality crisis: at that moment, she must have been emotionally numb. ``Anyhow, as I have already told you, you are a very special person. Jurors heard Smith's love letters read aloud and watched a videotaped television interview Smith gave shortly after reporting that her two toddlers had been kidnapped by a black carjacker last Oct. 25. During her trial, Susans stepfather, testified that he had sexually molested his stepdaughter when she was a teenager and again in the months leading up to her drowning the boys. A nine-man, three-woman jury unanimously votes for life in prison. The contempt for Susan was overwhelming, not only because of the racial tension triggered by the false accusation of a black man, but because her motive was extremely futile and selfish: to get rid of her children in order to maintain a relationship with a rich man. They contacted two of the nation's largest newspapers, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, to suggest a news item. " During her adolescence Susan became popular at school, she was a very attractive young woman and seemed to take leading positions in school activities. They were screaming, weren't they, and that's why you killed them?" SUSAN SMITH'S LETTER TO TOM FINDLAY Dear Tom, Just a note to say thank you for everything. Her mother Linda, weeks after her divorce, took up a new relationship. When she went on to say she had been riding around in the car singing with her sons, Caldwell said he interrupted and reminded her she earlier had described the boys as fussy that day. The letter gave reasons justifying the end of the relationship. Their last meetings came on Oct. 25 at the Conso plant. Findlay senior owns a company called Conso Inc., which makes interior-decorating products; he is among the wealthiest Union County residents. He went down the list of her sexual partners in an effort to poke holes in the prosecution's theory that Mrs. Smith killed her children, Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, so she could rekindle her. Shortly after joining the company she was promoted to the position of executive secretary to Consos president and CEO, Carey Findlay. He cited the differences in their backgrounds, and was also emphatic about not wanting children or wanting to raise children. She seemed to be unhappy with her pregnancy, complaining almost all the time about her condition. It takes 60 days for Red Rocket tomatoes to reach maturit, Rootstock Selection for Short Season Tomatoes: What to Consider and Recommended Varieties, Rootstock selection is an important part of successful tomato production, especially in short seasons. The letter is a classic of its caddish kind; Findlay read it aloud in court. In a last effort to control Toms feelings, she asked her friend to watch the children while she went to Toms office to tell him that everything she had said was nothing but a big lie. Smith was separated from her now-ex-husband, and started dating Tom Findlay, whose father owned the mill she worked at. Either way, before you settle down with anyone again, there is something you need to do. Smiling nervously and occasionally stumbling over his words, Findlay described an emotionally volatile Smith days before she sent her car rolling into the lake with her children strapped in their car seats. 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. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20358219,00.html She reddened slightly and stared back at him. The outcome flatly contradicts current public opinion. The town of 10,000 started the event following the Susan Smith murder trial to showcase its softer side," the Journal wrote. Russell and Smith's mother, Linda, are separated. From an early age Susan Smith lived in a troubled environment, in a wealthy family that was overly concerned with appearances. But the marriage slowly un-raveled. 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