NEARLY 30 years after murdering her two young sons, killer mom Susan Smith will be eligible for parole this November.
However, Smith has to face a giant hurdle before she can live out the rest of her life as a free woman, with her ex-husband and the father of the two young boys, David Smith, vehemently opposing her release from prison.
Smith has reportedly reached out to her ex, asking him not to oppose her release during her upcoming parole hearing in November.
A family member, however, confirmed that David plans to do just that, and will “100% oppose” her release from prison, as reported by The Post.
“He has every right to stand in her way, and that’s exactly what he’s about to do,” says the Smith relative.
“She killed his kids, [and] caused him a lifetime of heartbreak,” they continued.
“If she thinks he’s going to just stand by while she tries to get out of jail, she’s even more delusional than we even thought,” the relative added.
Smith was convicted of murder in 1995 and narrowly avoided the death penalty.
Instead, she was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Since then, she’s quietly served out her sentence at the Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina.
However, Smith has also recently told family members she believes she “deserves” to be released.
“I am not the monster society thinks I am,” Smith wrote in a 2015 letter to The State.
“I am far from it,” she continued, adding that she was not herself the night of the murders.
“I was a good mother and I loved my boys….I was not in my right mind.”
LIAR LIAR
On October 25, 1994, Smith reported to police that she had been carjacked by a Black man, who then allegedly drove off with her two sons, Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, still inside the vehicle.
Police responded quickly, going door-to-door in local neighborhoods in predominantly Black communities.
Over the next few days, they expanded their efforts, leading to a nationwide search and investigation.
Meanwhile, both Smith and her husband made numerous appearances on national TV, tearfully pleading for their boys’ safe return.
Over the course of their investigation, police found inconsistencies in Smith’s carjacking story.
Some detectives later said they had even doubted her story from the start, and believed she had murdered their sons.
A polygraph test turned out to be the final missing puzzle piece police needed to confirm their suspicions were correct.
Smith claimed that she was carjacked at an empty intersection, during a red light.
However, police determined the light would only turn red if there was another vehicle present on the intersecting road.
On November 3, nine days after making the false accusation, Smith finally confessed to police that there was no carjacker.
Instead, she had let her car roll into a nearby lake with both of her sons still strapped in their car seats, drowning them.
Investigators found Smith’s car, and both of her sons’ bodies, about 122 feet from the shore of John D. Long Lake.
Susan Smith's 2015 Letter
In July 2015, Susan Smith wrote a letter to The State newspaper reporter Harrison Cahill.
Cahill published the exclusive piece, titled Sincerely Susan, inviting readers to hear Smith’s side of the story.
“It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself,” Smith began.
“It is frustrating to say the least. Mr. Cahill, I am not the monster society thinks I am. I am far from it.
“Something went very wrong that night. I was not myself. I was a good mother and I loved my boys.
“The thing that hurts me the most is that people think I hurt my children in order to be with a man.
“That is so far from the truth,” she added.
“There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. I was not in my right mind.
“The only reason I lied is because I didn’t know how to tell the people who loved Michael & Alex that they would never see them again.
“I didn’t want to hurt them,” she wrote.
“I knew the truth would come out, but I had planned to kill myself first and leave a note behind telling what had happened,” she shared.
“I didn’t believe I could face my family when the truth was revealed.”
Sincerely,
Susan
MURDER MOTIVE
During Smith’s trial in 1995, her defense team, including David Bruck and Judy Clarke, tried to argue that she was “deeply troubled” and suffering from “severe depression,” as reported by The New York Times.
“This is not a case about evil,” Clarke argued, adding that this particular case was “about despair and sadness.”
Bruck and Clarke claimed that Smith had driven to the lake with the intention of killing herself and her two sons, but had jumped out of the car at the last minute.
The prosecution, meanwhile, claimed that Smith had murdered her two boys to continue a relationship with a local wealthy man, Tom Findlay.
Findlay, then 27, was the son of the owner of Conso Products, the largest employer in Union, South Carolina.
Sometime before the murders, Findlay had sent Smith a letter, ending their affair.
The letter, dated October 17, 1994, mentioned that Susan “will, without a doubt, make some lucky man a great wife,” as reported by Crime Library.
“But unfortunately, it won’t be me,” Findlay wrote.
“Susan, I could really fall for you. You have some endearing qualities about you, and I think that you are a terrific person,” he continued.
“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.”
Findlay didn’t want the responsibility of raising another man’s children, even if it meant leaving Susan.
Susan, furious and saddened over his rejection, murdered her two sons less than a week later.
IT’S ALL RELATIVE
According to a spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons, parole-seekers, like Smith, are allowed to file a notice if they are seeking an early release.
However, upon filing that notice, the state notifies the victims’ family.
The victims’ relatives then have the right to “weigh in” on whether the parole-seeker should be considered for release, or remain in prison.
South Carolina’s Department of Probation, Parole and Pardons allows victims to participate in parole hearings in-person, virtually, or via phone, letter, DVD, or online form.
“It’s just ridiculous that she’d even ask for David’s support,” a family member said.
“So the answer is no,” they said, adding, “No, no, no. Just no.”
The parole board will have no choice but to consider David’s strong opposition to his ex-wife’s release.
However, they may still decide to grant Smith parole, despite his consistent and continuous objections.
Smith’s parole hearing is scheduled for November 4.
