March 13, 2025 • 27 mins
A mother's desperate claim that her two young sons were kidnapped by a carjacker unravels into one of the most shocking murder cases in South Carolina history. The Susan Smith case reveals how a web of lies, inconsistencies, and a devastating confession led to the discovery of a premeditated crime that shocked the nation.
• Susan Smith reported her sons Michael (3) and Alex (14 months) were taken during a carjacking on October 25, 1994
• For nine days, America watched as Susan and her husband David made tearful pleas on national television
• Investigators noticed troubling inconsistencies in Susan's story, including speaking of her children in past tense
• A "Dear Jane" letter from Susan's boyfriend suggested a potential motive for the disappearance
• Susan eventually confessed to rolling her car into John D. Long Lake with her sons strapped in their car seats
• The car floated for six minutes before sinking, with the boys conscious and likely terrified
• Despite claiming she initially planned suicide alongside her children, Susan's clothes were dry when she reported the crime
• Susan's false accusation that a Black man had committed the crime inflamed racial tensions in the community
• In November 2024, Susan was denied parole after serving 30 years, but will be eligible for review every two years
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carole Townsend (00:04):
Welcome listeners to the 15th episode of
Front Porch Mysteries with me,Carole Townsend.
This episode marks the end ofour first season, but rest
assured, we'll be back in acouple of months with more
Southern history and true crimeintrigue, crime intrigue.
(00:27):
If you haven't already, pleasesubscribe to this podcast so
that when we resume in the monthof May, you'll be the first to
know and you won't miss a thing.
My team and I wish to conveyour heartfelt delight and
gratitude for the overwhelmingresponse we've enjoyed to this
first season of Front PorchMysteries, and we'd also like to
invite you to rate this podcastwherever you listen, and to
(00:49):
comment on episodes and suggestnew ones, as some of you have
already done.
After all, we all have storiesthat have been passed down to us
by previous generations, don'twe?
Some of them might be just thatStories that have been
embellished over the years andamount to nothing more than
(01:10):
mists, shadows and smoke.
But what if they're true?
Join me now as we examine thecase I've titled Malice of
Forethought the Susan SmithMurders.
(01:43):
On October 25th 1994, susan LeeSmith aimlessly drove her Mazda
Protégé around the smallsouthern town of Union, south
Carolina.
In the back seat, strapped intotheir car seats were her sons
(02:04):
Michael, age 3, and Alex, 14months.
Susan was crying, distraught,planning to drive to her
mother's house, or perhaps to afriend's house to seek comfort,
advice and a place to rest herweary and chaotic head.
But around 9 pm that night shestopped at a red light at an
intersection named Monarch Millsand an African-American man
(02:31):
opened the passenger door andslid into the seat beside her,
shoving a gun into her side.
The man said Shut up and drive.
Susan went on to recall that,at his instruction, she had
driven about five miles alongHighway 49 when the man told her
to stop the car and get out,susan begged him to let her take
(02:52):
her children, but he refused,saying he was taking the boys
with him but would release themunharmed when he didn't need
them any longer.
He then pushed Susan out of thecar, slid into the driver's
seat and took off with the twoyoung boys still strapped in
their car seats.
Hysterical, susan ran to thenearest house she could find and
(03:17):
banged on the front door.
When the couple answered, shebegged them to help her and told
them the awful story of whathad just happened to her and her
boys.
When police arrived, susanexplained again what had
happened, describing thecarjacker as being about 40
years old, black wearing a plaidjacket, dark shirt, jeans and a
(03:42):
dark toboggan dark shirt, jeansand a dark toboggan.
It wasn't long before the man'ssketched likeness was posted in
many Union storefront windows.
Hopes were high at the timethat the carjacker would drop
the boys off somewhere close byunharmed, but sadly Susan Smith
would never see her preciouslittle boys again.
(04:14):
Here in the South, storytellingis not just an art.
It's a way of life, ofretelling true things that beg
to be shared.
Again and again, perhaps as away of testing their truth.
We become entranced by thesestories, by Southern legend and
history.
We're fascinated and riveted bythem because there's an element
(04:36):
to these stories that can onlybe described as indescribable,
as unique and quirky andsometimes just downright
impossible.
People have asked me countlesstimes during my career as an
author and a journalist whySouthern history is so colorful,
(04:57):
why can it sometimes be sofar-fetched and mind-boggling be
so far-fetched andmind-boggling?
My only answer and I know itfalls woefully short is that
this is the South, and rarelyare events cut and dried here,
rarely are they black and white.
(05:17):
Southern history is laidagainst a backdrop of mystery,
of obscurity and of theever-raging battle between good
and evil, and it's a reminderthat things are not always what
they seem.
Join me tonight as we exploreanother tale of intrigue, a true
story cloaked in mystery anddraped in dark heartbreak.
(05:41):
You and I have shared many astory from this old front porch,
a familiar and tangible refugefrom things that really do go
bump in the night.
And again I've saved you a seat.
The following podcast containsmaterial that may be disturbing.
(06:07):
Listener discretion is advised.
The tight-knit community ofUnion, south Carolina, was in an
uproar.
Two of their own had been taken, and from a sweet, innocent
23-year-old mother.
(06:28):
Across the entire countrypeople were looking for Michael
and Alex Smith.
They were also looking fortheir abductor, the unnamed
black man who had so cruellytaken them For nine straight
days.
Susan and her husband, david,stood front and center at
(06:48):
several press conferencesbegging the man who took their
two small boys to return themsafely, southern accent, who
looked into the camera and spokedirectly to her children saying
(07:09):
your mama loves you.
You guys have got to be sostrong.
I just feel in my heart thatyou're okay, but you got to take
care of each other.
David stood quietly by hiswife's side, his gestures and
(07:30):
mannerisms and, in fact, hisactual words, telling the world
that he both believed and whollysupported his traumatized and
grieving wife, saying if theperson who has mine and my
wife's children sees this, wecome to you and beg you that you
please do not hurt our children.
Just find the compassion, findit somewhere in your heart to
let them return home safely anddon't hurt them.
(07:51):
You can take the car whateveryou want, just don't hurt our
children.
His anguish was evident.
It didn't matter that theSmiths' young marriage had
already weathered a few stormsand dalliances.
It didn't matter that thecouple were in fact separated at
the time and even seeing otherpeople.
(08:13):
The kidnapping of the couple'stwo boys and their safe return
was all that mattered.
This case set off a mediafirestorm and a nearly two-week
manhunt for a suspect.
After Susan told police thather sons had been taken by a
black man, the accusation caughtfire as people across the
(08:38):
country searched for the boys,coordinated vigils, hung flyers
and called police with tips.
Within a few days, the entireworld watched as the story
unfolded.
Investigators fully understoodthe urgency of finding the two
little boys and of finding theirkidnapper.
(09:00):
The first 48 hours followingthe disappearance of a child are
the most critical in terms offinding and returning that child
safely home.
Detectives began, of course, byinterviewing Susan Smith, by
getting her to relate everydetail of the horrible ordeal
(09:20):
over and over so as not to missa single clue.
And it was during the veryfirst interview with Susan,
according to now Union CountySheriff Jeff Bailey, that
investigators first began tosuspect the young mother's story
.
Her body language, said Bailey,just didn't fit the dire
(09:41):
situation.
And another troubling fact wasthis Susan Smith spoke to
investigators about her childrenin the past tense, saying
things like my children wantedme, they needed me, and now I
can't help them.
And there were blips, smalldetails in her story that simply
(10:05):
didn't add up.
To a late person theseintricate nuances might not mean
a thing, but to seasoneddetectives, well, let's just say
that their antenna were up.
First, susan told detectivesthat she was driving somewhere
she just wasn't sure exactlywhere.
(10:26):
On that night she told themthat she was driving to a
friend's house, but that friendsaid that he wasn't even home at
the time and he had not beenexpecting Susan.
She told police that she hadtaken the children to Walmart,
but no one recalled seeing thefamily there on that night.
She told them that she stoppedat a red light at the Monarch
(10:50):
Mills intersection in Union andthat there were no other cars
around at the time.
But there was a problem withthat statement.
The traffic light at MonarchMills only turns red and stops
drivers if there are other carsapproaching.
Otherwise the light stays green.
(11:13):
When confronted with thisdiscrepancy, susan changed the
road name to Carlisle and notMonarch Mills.
Also troubling to investigatorswas the fact that Susan Smith's
car seemed to have simplyvanished into thin air.
Usually when a carjacker stealsa vehicle, that car is found
(11:33):
abandoned elsewhere andsometimes even burned to destroy
evidence.
Carjackers almost never takehostages, but nine days after
the incident, both the car andthe children were still missing
Very strange.
And during a lie detector test,susan had trouble answering the
(11:57):
question Do you know where yourboys are?
All the while, of course, lawenforcement pursued every lead
and tip that came in about thesmall boys, even checking out a
lead as far away as WashingtonState.
There was a nationwide manhuntfor the man Susan described as
(12:19):
the carjacker and kidnapper.
In questioning Smith,investigators picked up on a
disturbing pattern.
Whenever they checked her storyand found inconsistencies, she
would come up with anexplanation that would be more
difficult to verify.
They began to focus on everyaspect of Susan's life.
(12:43):
The 23-year-old secretary hadfiled for divorce just a couple
of months earlier, in September1994.
And only a few days before theincident she had broken up with
her boyfriend, tom Finley, whosefamily owned the largest
business in Union.
(13:04):
Susan and Tom had dated off andon in 1994.
A friend of Susan's tolddetectives about a letter Susan
had recently received from Tom.
In it he told Susan that whileshe had many endearing qualities
, he saw reasons that they werenot going to remain a couple and
(13:27):
they would certainly never getmarried.
He told Susan that among thosereasons was the fact that she
had children and he wasn't yetready for that responsibility.
The tone of the man's letter tohis lover was kind but firm.
This letter was important toinvestigators for two reasons.
(13:48):
First, it established a motive.
Second, it suggested that ifSmith had faked the carjacking
to kill her children the crimewas one of passion she would
likely not have had anaccomplice.
In other words, she would havehad to have left the car within
(14:08):
walking distance of the housewhere she went for help From the
time that investigators learnedabout the Dear Jane letter from
Tom to Susan, the focus of theinvestigation changed.
Now they were looking within atwo-mile radius of John D Long
Lake, a popular fishing andpicnicking spot.
(14:30):
Susan could have easily walkedor run to the nearby home where
she first reported her boystaken.
State Wildlife Departmentdivers twice entered the murky
waters of the lake near asloping boat ramp, searching for
(14:52):
Susan's car, but they foundnothing.
And still the search for thechildren continued, with news
media swarming the small town ofUnion and with tabloid news
outlets speculating wildly everytime.
A new lead came in and wasinvestigated.
(15:12):
All the while, susan Smithappeared on television,
seemingly the distraught victimof a cruel crime.
Nine days after the boys weretaken, she appeared on NBC's the
Today Show pleading for thepublic's help and stating that
(15:32):
she had no idea why some weresuggesting that she might have
had a hand in her boys'sdisappearance.
She was scheduled to be onother shows later that same day
delivering the same message, butat the behest of law
enforcement, she instead wasbrought back in for questioning
by then-Sheriff Howard Wells,who was also Susan's godfather.
(15:56):
Wells used a carefully scriptedapproach to the questioning.
By 3 pm that same day, wellshad his confession.
Three hours after that, diversagain entered John D Long Lake
Using floodlights.
They located the burgundy MazdaProtégé.
(16:19):
Upside down, about 100 yardsfrom the boat ramp, they could
see a tiny hand pressed upagainst the glass of a back
window.
Looking inside the car, diverssaw the bodies of Michael and
(16:45):
Alex dangling upside down fromtheir car seats, grown men.
Both divers and law enforcementofficers wept at the sight of
what they had found that day.
Divers had missed the car inearlier attempts to find it
because it had floated out fromthe ramp much farther than they
(17:06):
originally thought.
In fact, in a reenactment ofthe crime later played for the
jury in Smith's trial, thecourtroom audience watched in
horror as the car floated forsix full minutes, taking on
water and eventually capsizing,drowning the two small boys.
(17:27):
A camera mounted inside the carused in the reenactment showed
viewers what the boys would haveseen, as they undoubtedly cried
in terror.
Very likely they cried fortheir mother.
What on earth could make amother murder her own children?
(17:49):
What could possibly justify amother taking two such small
innocent lives, taking two suchsmall innocent lives?
In her confession, susan Smithclaimed that she was determined
to commit suicide that night,distressed over her failed
romance and flailing finances,she planned to kill her two boys
(18:11):
along with herself, as shebelieved they'd be better off
dead than to go through lifewithout their mother.
Driving to John D Long Lake,she stopped the car at the top
of the boat ramp and releasedthe brake so that the car would
roll into the lake, drowning allof them.
She did this three times thatnight, working up the nerve to
(18:33):
go through with it.
On that third attempt, susanstepped out of the car and
released the brake one last time, leaving her babies alone to
face her choice.
A coroner determined that theydid not die beforehand.
They were in fact alive whenthe car rolled into the murky
(18:57):
darkness of the lake and coldwater filled their lungs.
Their mother watched as the cardrifted out into the lake,
sinking, capsizing, and then sheturned and ran to a nearby
house to begin spinning her webof lies.
House to begin spinning her webof lies.
(19:21):
We don't know how long shewatched, but we do know that her
clothes were not wet when shearrived at the house.
In other words, she watched butshe did nothing to stop it.
The closed casket funeral forMichael and Alexander was held
on Sunday, november 6, 1994.
They were buried together in awhite casket with gold trim and
(19:44):
they lie at rest, far too soonin life, in the cemetery behind
the Bogansville United MethodistChurch in South Carolina.
David Smith said in a recentinterview that he learned of
Susan's confession the way mostof us did during a press
conference held that same day,that Susan prayed with the
(20:06):
sheriff and then provided both awritten and verbal confession.
As horrible as Susan Smith'schoices were for those two boys,
her husband and the families,the grieving did not stop there.
Nationwide, those who hadfollowed the case on the
harrowing days of the searchalso grieved.
(20:28):
They felt betrayed.
They mourned the loss ofinnocent life and in the small
town of Union, south Carolina,healing had to begin.
Smith's accusation that a blackman had taken her children had
ignited divisiveness andmistrust between blacks and
(20:48):
whites in the county.
By many accounts thatdivisiveness hadn't been there
before, at least not among themajority of citizens.
But all it took was a seeminglyinnocent young white woman
crying and pleading for thelives of her sons, and the
embers of racial hatred begansmoking.
(21:11):
Although Susan Smith could havebeen sentenced to death in South
Carolina for her crimes, thejury in her trial sentenced her
to life with the possibility ofparole.
During the trial, susan'sstepfather admitted to having
molested her from the time shewas a child and continuing that
relationship well into hermarriage to David.
(21:32):
With that information, jurorsseemed to feel that the
circumstance mitigated herdecision to kill her children.
With that sentence, she couldpossibly be released from prison
in 30 years.
That 30-year mark fell innovember 2024 and there was a
(21:54):
great deal of publicity aboutthe upcoming parole hearing.
David Smith, his wife and otherfamily members addressed the
court, stating that Susan hasnot been rehabilitated and that
30 years in prison in no waypays for what she did.
Others testified to the effectthat Susan had not been reformed
(22:16):
and was not remorseful for whatshe did to her own children.
While at the Camille GriffinGraham Correctional Institution
in Columbia, south Carolina,Smith told administrators at the
prison that she had sex fourtimes on prison grounds with
50-year-old prison guard HoustonCagle.
Cagle later pleaded guilty forthese charges and spent three
(22:41):
months in prison.
A year later, prison captainAlfred Rowe confessed to having
sex with Smith and was sentencedto five years probation.
Susan Smith has since enjoyedromantic relationships with men
outside of prison Because of thescandals while in the Graham
(23:04):
Institute, smith was moved toLeith Correctional Institution
in Greenwood, south Carolina, inSeptember 2000.
She was treated several timesfor medical issues while at
Leith, though the reasons forthis treatment have not been
disclosed.
She has also been disciplinedfor drug use, self-mutilation
(23:26):
and the unauthorized use ofanother inmate's PIN or personal
identification number forpurchases.
She has received job trainingwhile at Leith in horticulture
and in custodial care.
Since April 10, 2025, she hasbeen working as a wardkeeper
(23:47):
assistant at Leith.
In August 2014, the statenewspaper sent a letter to Susan
Smith asking her to share herexperience of her trial and
investigation.
In January 2015, the newspaperreceived a handwritten response
from Smith.
(24:07):
In the letter, smith stated ithas been hard to listen to lie
after lie and not be able todefend myself.
Adding, I'm not the monstersociety thinks I am.
I'm far from it.
I was a good mother and I lovedmy boys.
The letter in fact related verylittle about her two dead boys.
(24:30):
It mostly addressed thepublic's perception of her.
Circling back to the November2024 video link parole hearing,
susan Smith was unanimouslydenied parole, despite her tears
and her assertion that God hasforgiven her for killing her
sons.
(24:51):
She reportedly became incensedat the board's decision,
throwing what was described as ascreaming tantrum when she
arrived back at her jail cell.
For now, david Smith and thosewho knew and loved those two
little boys can rest easy thatSusan will remain behind bars.
(25:12):
But the pain still isn't over,because now that the 30-year
mark of Susan's incarcerationhas passed, she becomes eligible
for parole every two yearsgoing forward, and every two
years David Smith and his familywill have to explain why her
(25:32):
release from prison would be sohard to face and so hard to live
with.
It seems that in the case ofSusan Smith and her dreadful
decision to take her son's livesthat night, the nightmare will
never end.
(26:00):
I'm Carole Townsend, veterannewspaper journalist and
six-time award-winning author.
You can find me on social mediaand check out my website at www
.
caroletownsend.
com.
As always, thanks for listening, and if you're enjoying these
tales of Southern history andlore, I hope you'll tell your
(26:21):
friends.
Subscribe to this podcast onSpotify, apple Play, iheart and
anywhere you listen.
My team and I referenced thefollowing materials in putting
together the facts of the storythe article Susan Smith's
(26:45):
Ex-Husband recounts the momentshe admitted to killing their
kids In Peoplecom by NicoleAcosta, updated February 14th
2025.
The film documentaryUnthinkable the Susan Smith
(27:05):
story, nbc News, various storiesfrom 30 years ago and from 2024
and 2025 regarding the murders,the parole hearing and the
denial of parole, and theDateline episode Return to the
Lake dated February 19th 2025.
Welcome listeners to the 15th episode of
Front Porch Mysteries with me,Carole Townsend.
This episode marks the end ofour first season, but rest
assured, we'll be back in acouple of months with more
Southern history and true crimeintrigue, crime intrigue.
(00:27):
If you haven't already, pleasesubscribe to this podcast so
that when we resume in the monthof May, you'll be the first to
know and you won't miss a thing.
My team and I wish to conveyour heartfelt delight and
gratitude for the overwhelmingresponse we've enjoyed to this
first season of Front PorchMysteries, and we'd also like to
invite you to rate this podcastwherever you listen, and to
(00:49):
comment on episodes and suggestnew ones, as some of you have
already done.
After all, we all have storiesthat have been passed down to us
by previous generations, don'twe?
Some of them might be just thatStories that have been
embellished over the years andamount to nothing more than
(01:10):
mists, shadows and smoke.
But what if they're true?
Join me now as we examine thecase I've titled Malice of
Forethought the Susan SmithMurders.
(01:43):
On October 25th 1994, susan LeeSmith aimlessly drove her Mazda
Protégé around the smallsouthern town of Union, south
Carolina.
In the back seat, strapped intotheir car seats were her sons
(02:04):
Michael, age 3, and Alex, 14months.
Susan was crying, distraught,planning to drive to her
mother's house, or perhaps to afriend's house to seek comfort,
advice and a place to rest herweary and chaotic head.
But around 9 pm that night shestopped at a red light at an
intersection named Monarch Millsand an African-American man
(02:31):
opened the passenger door andslid into the seat beside her,
shoving a gun into her side.
The man said Shut up and drive.
Susan went on to recall that,at his instruction, she had
driven about five miles alongHighway 49 when the man told her
to stop the car and get out,susan begged him to let her take
(02:52):
her children, but he refused,saying he was taking the boys
with him but would release themunharmed when he didn't need
them any longer.
He then pushed Susan out of thecar, slid into the driver's
seat and took off with the twoyoung boys still strapped in
their car seats.
Hysterical, susan ran to thenearest house she could find and
(03:17):
banged on the front door.
When the couple answered, shebegged them to help her and told
them the awful story of whathad just happened to her and her
boys.
When police arrived, susanexplained again what had
happened, describing thecarjacker as being about 40
years old, black wearing a plaidjacket, dark shirt, jeans and a
(03:42):
dark toboggan dark shirt, jeansand a dark toboggan.
It wasn't long before the man'ssketched likeness was posted in
many Union storefront windows.
Hopes were high at the timethat the carjacker would drop
the boys off somewhere close byunharmed, but sadly Susan Smith
would never see her preciouslittle boys again.
(04:14):
Here in the South, storytellingis not just an art.
It's a way of life, ofretelling true things that beg
to be shared.
Again and again, perhaps as away of testing their truth.
We become entranced by thesestories, by Southern legend and
history.
We're fascinated and riveted bythem because there's an element
(04:36):
to these stories that can onlybe described as indescribable,
as unique and quirky andsometimes just downright
impossible.
People have asked me countlesstimes during my career as an
author and a journalist whySouthern history is so colorful,
(04:57):
why can it sometimes be sofar-fetched and mind-boggling be
so far-fetched andmind-boggling?
My only answer and I know itfalls woefully short is that
this is the South, and rarelyare events cut and dried here,
rarely are they black and white.
(05:17):
Southern history is laidagainst a backdrop of mystery,
of obscurity and of theever-raging battle between good
and evil, and it's a reminderthat things are not always what
they seem.
Join me tonight as we exploreanother tale of intrigue, a true
story cloaked in mystery anddraped in dark heartbreak.
(05:41):
You and I have shared many astory from this old front porch,
a familiar and tangible refugefrom things that really do go
bump in the night.
And again I've saved you a seat.
The following podcast containsmaterial that may be disturbing.
(06:07):
Listener discretion is advised.
The tight-knit community ofUnion, south Carolina, was in an
uproar.
Two of their own had been taken, and from a sweet, innocent
23-year-old mother.
(06:28):
Across the entire countrypeople were looking for Michael
and Alex Smith.
They were also looking fortheir abductor, the unnamed
black man who had so cruellytaken them For nine straight
days.
Susan and her husband, david,stood front and center at
(06:48):
several press conferencesbegging the man who took their
two small boys to return themsafely, southern accent, who
looked into the camera and spokedirectly to her children saying
(07:09):
your mama loves you.
You guys have got to be sostrong.
I just feel in my heart thatyou're okay, but you got to take
care of each other.
David stood quietly by hiswife's side, his gestures and
(07:30):
mannerisms and, in fact, hisactual words, telling the world
that he both believed and whollysupported his traumatized and
grieving wife, saying if theperson who has mine and my
wife's children sees this, wecome to you and beg you that you
please do not hurt our children.
Just find the compassion, findit somewhere in your heart to
let them return home safely anddon't hurt them.
(07:51):
You can take the car whateveryou want, just don't hurt our
children.
His anguish was evident.
It didn't matter that theSmiths' young marriage had
already weathered a few stormsand dalliances.
It didn't matter that thecouple were in fact separated at
the time and even seeing otherpeople.
(08:13):
The kidnapping of the couple'stwo boys and their safe return
was all that mattered.
This case set off a mediafirestorm and a nearly two-week
manhunt for a suspect.
After Susan told police thather sons had been taken by a
black man, the accusation caughtfire as people across the
(08:38):
country searched for the boys,coordinated vigils, hung flyers
and called police with tips.
Within a few days, the entireworld watched as the story
unfolded.
Investigators fully understoodthe urgency of finding the two
little boys and of finding theirkidnapper.
(09:00):
The first 48 hours followingthe disappearance of a child are
the most critical in terms offinding and returning that child
safely home.
Detectives began, of course, byinterviewing Susan Smith, by
getting her to relate everydetail of the horrible ordeal
(09:20):
over and over so as not to missa single clue.
And it was during the veryfirst interview with Susan,
according to now Union CountySheriff Jeff Bailey, that
investigators first began tosuspect the young mother's story
.
Her body language, said Bailey,just didn't fit the dire
(09:41):
situation.
And another troubling fact wasthis Susan Smith spoke to
investigators about her childrenin the past tense, saying
things like my children wantedme, they needed me, and now I
can't help them.
And there were blips, smalldetails in her story that simply
(10:05):
didn't add up.
To a late person theseintricate nuances might not mean
a thing, but to seasoneddetectives, well, let's just say
that their antenna were up.
First, susan told detectivesthat she was driving somewhere
she just wasn't sure exactlywhere.
(10:26):
On that night she told themthat she was driving to a
friend's house, but that friendsaid that he wasn't even home at
the time and he had not beenexpecting Susan.
She told police that she hadtaken the children to Walmart,
but no one recalled seeing thefamily there on that night.
She told them that she stoppedat a red light at the Monarch
(10:50):
Mills intersection in Union andthat there were no other cars
around at the time.
But there was a problem withthat statement.
The traffic light at MonarchMills only turns red and stops
drivers if there are other carsapproaching.
Otherwise the light stays green.
(11:13):
When confronted with thisdiscrepancy, susan changed the
road name to Carlisle and notMonarch Mills.
Also troubling to investigatorswas the fact that Susan Smith's
car seemed to have simplyvanished into thin air.
Usually when a carjacker stealsa vehicle, that car is found
(11:33):
abandoned elsewhere andsometimes even burned to destroy
evidence.
Carjackers almost never takehostages, but nine days after
the incident, both the car andthe children were still missing
Very strange.
And during a lie detector test,susan had trouble answering the
(11:57):
question Do you know where yourboys are?
All the while, of course, lawenforcement pursued every lead
and tip that came in about thesmall boys, even checking out a
lead as far away as WashingtonState.
There was a nationwide manhuntfor the man Susan described as
(12:19):
the carjacker and kidnapper.
In questioning Smith,investigators picked up on a
disturbing pattern.
Whenever they checked her storyand found inconsistencies, she
would come up with anexplanation that would be more
difficult to verify.
They began to focus on everyaspect of Susan's life.
(12:43):
The 23-year-old secretary hadfiled for divorce just a couple
of months earlier, in September1994.
And only a few days before theincident she had broken up with
her boyfriend, tom Finley, whosefamily owned the largest
business in Union.
(13:04):
Susan and Tom had dated off andon in 1994.
A friend of Susan's tolddetectives about a letter Susan
had recently received from Tom.
In it he told Susan that whileshe had many endearing qualities
, he saw reasons that they werenot going to remain a couple and
(13:27):
they would certainly never getmarried.
He told Susan that among thosereasons was the fact that she
had children and he wasn't yetready for that responsibility.
The tone of the man's letter tohis lover was kind but firm.
This letter was important toinvestigators for two reasons.
(13:48):
First, it established a motive.
Second, it suggested that ifSmith had faked the carjacking
to kill her children the crimewas one of passion she would
likely not have had anaccomplice.
In other words, she would havehad to have left the car within
(14:08):
walking distance of the housewhere she went for help From the
time that investigators learnedabout the Dear Jane letter from
Tom to Susan, the focus of theinvestigation changed.
Now they were looking within atwo-mile radius of John D Long
Lake, a popular fishing andpicnicking spot.
(14:30):
Susan could have easily walkedor run to the nearby home where
she first reported her boystaken.
State Wildlife Departmentdivers twice entered the murky
waters of the lake near asloping boat ramp, searching for
(14:52):
Susan's car, but they foundnothing.
And still the search for thechildren continued, with news
media swarming the small town ofUnion and with tabloid news
outlets speculating wildly everytime.
A new lead came in and wasinvestigated.
(15:12):
All the while, susan Smithappeared on television,
seemingly the distraught victimof a cruel crime.
Nine days after the boys weretaken, she appeared on NBC's the
Today Show pleading for thepublic's help and stating that
(15:32):
she had no idea why some weresuggesting that she might have
had a hand in her boys'sdisappearance.
She was scheduled to be onother shows later that same day
delivering the same message, butat the behest of law
enforcement, she instead wasbrought back in for questioning
by then-Sheriff Howard Wells,who was also Susan's godfather.
(15:56):
Wells used a carefully scriptedapproach to the questioning.
By 3 pm that same day, wellshad his confession.
Three hours after that, diversagain entered John D Long Lake
Using floodlights.
They located the burgundy MazdaProtégé.
(16:19):
Upside down, about 100 yardsfrom the boat ramp, they could
see a tiny hand pressed upagainst the glass of a back
window.
Looking inside the car, diverssaw the bodies of Michael and
(16:45):
Alex dangling upside down fromtheir car seats, grown men.
Both divers and law enforcementofficers wept at the sight of
what they had found that day.
Divers had missed the car inearlier attempts to find it
because it had floated out fromthe ramp much farther than they
(17:06):
originally thought.
In fact, in a reenactment ofthe crime later played for the
jury in Smith's trial, thecourtroom audience watched in
horror as the car floated forsix full minutes, taking on
water and eventually capsizing,drowning the two small boys.
(17:27):
A camera mounted inside the carused in the reenactment showed
viewers what the boys would haveseen, as they undoubtedly cried
in terror.
Very likely they cried fortheir mother.
What on earth could make amother murder her own children?
(17:49):
What could possibly justify amother taking two such small
innocent lives, taking two suchsmall innocent lives?
In her confession, susan Smithclaimed that she was determined
to commit suicide that night,distressed over her failed
romance and flailing finances,she planned to kill her two boys
(18:11):
along with herself, as shebelieved they'd be better off
dead than to go through lifewithout their mother.
Driving to John D Long Lake,she stopped the car at the top
of the boat ramp and releasedthe brake so that the car would
roll into the lake, drowning allof them.
She did this three times thatnight, working up the nerve to
(18:33):
go through with it.
On that third attempt, susanstepped out of the car and
released the brake one last time, leaving her babies alone to
face her choice.
A coroner determined that theydid not die beforehand.
They were in fact alive whenthe car rolled into the murky
(18:57):
darkness of the lake and coldwater filled their lungs.
Their mother watched as the cardrifted out into the lake,
sinking, capsizing, and then sheturned and ran to a nearby
house to begin spinning her webof lies.
House to begin spinning her webof lies.
(19:21):
We don't know how long shewatched, but we do know that her
clothes were not wet when shearrived at the house.
In other words, she watched butshe did nothing to stop it.
The closed casket funeral forMichael and Alexander was held
on Sunday, november 6, 1994.
They were buried together in awhite casket with gold trim and
(19:44):
they lie at rest, far too soonin life, in the cemetery behind
the Bogansville United MethodistChurch in South Carolina.
David Smith said in a recentinterview that he learned of
Susan's confession the way mostof us did during a press
conference held that same day,that Susan prayed with the
(20:06):
sheriff and then provided both awritten and verbal confession.
As horrible as Susan Smith'schoices were for those two boys,
her husband and the families,the grieving did not stop there.
Nationwide, those who hadfollowed the case on the
harrowing days of the searchalso grieved.
(20:28):
They felt betrayed.
They mourned the loss ofinnocent life and in the small
town of Union, south Carolina,healing had to begin.
Smith's accusation that a blackman had taken her children had
ignited divisiveness andmistrust between blacks and
(20:48):
whites in the county.
By many accounts thatdivisiveness hadn't been there
before, at least not among themajority of citizens.
But all it took was a seeminglyinnocent young white woman
crying and pleading for thelives of her sons, and the
embers of racial hatred begansmoking.
(21:11):
Although Susan Smith could havebeen sentenced to death in South
Carolina for her crimes, thejury in her trial sentenced her
to life with the possibility ofparole.
During the trial, susan'sstepfather admitted to having
molested her from the time shewas a child and continuing that
relationship well into hermarriage to David.
(21:32):
With that information, jurorsseemed to feel that the
circumstance mitigated herdecision to kill her children.
With that sentence, she couldpossibly be released from prison
in 30 years.
That 30-year mark fell innovember 2024 and there was a
(21:54):
great deal of publicity aboutthe upcoming parole hearing.
David Smith, his wife and otherfamily members addressed the
court, stating that Susan hasnot been rehabilitated and that
30 years in prison in no waypays for what she did.
Others testified to the effectthat Susan had not been reformed
(22:16):
and was not remorseful for whatshe did to her own children.
While at the Camille GriffinGraham Correctional Institution
in Columbia, south Carolina,Smith told administrators at the
prison that she had sex fourtimes on prison grounds with
50-year-old prison guard HoustonCagle.
Cagle later pleaded guilty forthese charges and spent three
(22:41):
months in prison.
A year later, prison captainAlfred Rowe confessed to having
sex with Smith and was sentencedto five years probation.
Susan Smith has since enjoyedromantic relationships with men
outside of prison Because of thescandals while in the Graham
(23:04):
Institute, smith was moved toLeith Correctional Institution
in Greenwood, south Carolina, inSeptember 2000.
She was treated several timesfor medical issues while at
Leith, though the reasons forthis treatment have not been
disclosed.
She has also been disciplinedfor drug use, self-mutilation
(23:26):
and the unauthorized use ofanother inmate's PIN or personal
identification number forpurchases.
She has received job trainingwhile at Leith in horticulture
and in custodial care.
Since April 10, 2025, she hasbeen working as a wardkeeper
(23:47):
assistant at Leith.
In August 2014, the statenewspaper sent a letter to Susan
Smith asking her to share herexperience of her trial and
investigation.
In January 2015, the newspaperreceived a handwritten response
from Smith.
(24:07):
In the letter, smith stated ithas been hard to listen to lie
after lie and not be able todefend myself.
Adding, I'm not the monstersociety thinks I am.
I'm far from it.
I was a good mother and I lovedmy boys.
The letter in fact related verylittle about her two dead boys.
(24:30):
It mostly addressed thepublic's perception of her.
Circling back to the November2024 video link parole hearing,
susan Smith was unanimouslydenied parole, despite her tears
and her assertion that God hasforgiven her for killing her
sons.
(24:51):
She reportedly became incensedat the board's decision,
throwing what was described as ascreaming tantrum when she
arrived back at her jail cell.
For now, david Smith and thosewho knew and loved those two
little boys can rest easy thatSusan will remain behind bars.
(25:12):
But the pain still isn't over,because now that the 30-year
mark of Susan's incarcerationhas passed, she becomes eligible
for parole every two yearsgoing forward, and every two
years David Smith and his familywill have to explain why her
(25:32):
release from prison would be sohard to face and so hard to live
with.
It seems that in the case ofSusan Smith and her dreadful
decision to take her son's livesthat night, the nightmare will
never end.
(26:00):
I'm Carole Townsend, veterannewspaper journalist and
six-time award-winning author.
You can find me on social mediaand check out my website at www
.
caroletownsend.
com.
As always, thanks for listening, and if you're enjoying these
tales of Southern history andlore, I hope you'll tell your
(26:21):
friends.
Subscribe to this podcast onSpotify, apple Play, iheart and
anywhere you listen.
My team and I referenced thefollowing materials in putting
together the facts of the storythe article Susan Smith's
(26:45):
Ex-Husband recounts the momentshe admitted to killing their
kids In Peoplecom by NicoleAcosta, updated February 14th
2025.
The film documentaryUnthinkable the Susan Smith
(27:05):
story, nbc News, various storiesfrom 30 years ago and from 2024
and 2025 regarding the murders,the parole hearing and the
denial of parole, and theDateline episode Return to the
Lake dated February 19th 2025.
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