However, the case of Susan Smith highlights two distinct points of view. "We agreed the intimate part of our relationship should be postponed till she was divorced," Findlay testified. She seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early. In addition to Findlay, several other Conso Products employees testified. Smith was separated from her now-ex-husband, and started dating Tom Findlay, whose father owned the mill she worked at. The outcome flatly contradicts current public opinion. She asks the sheriff to pray with her, then confesses to the murders and tells police where to find the boys. The steady drip of revelation, each more damning than the last, seemed almost certain to lead to her execution. Employees of Winn-Dixie, the grocery store where David Smith worked, paid for it as a lasting tribute. On top of that, Ms. Smith later said that a cause of her depression was her breakup with Conso employee Tom . But the marriage slowly un-raveled. You are the best friend anyone could ever have. I was not in my right mind.. At the time, Tom didnt know, but she had sex with David; her stepfather, Bev Russell; and also her boss, who was Toms father. What got into Susan Smith's mind that night, only the devil knows. Who knows what the future holds for our relationship. This didnt seem to work, so she told him about the supposed affair with her boss, also Toms father, and warned him that the details of the relationship might come to light during the next few days. The report says Linda later asked Beverly about Susan's story "and he didn't deny that it had happened. On October 25, 1994, the Union native, who was 23 years old at the time, called the police and claimed an armed black man stole her car and drove off with her two sons inside. She began sleeping with her boss's son, Tom Findlay, in January 1994. Other testimony pointed to the deep shame that stemmed from her incestuous relationship with Russell. , the woman who killed her young sons in 1994, will be explored in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries. I really wanted to be with you and hated that I wasnt. She was really obsessed. We met at Conso (the company Findlays father operates, where Ms. Smith also worked), and I fell for her like `a ton of bricks. Well, even though I fell enlove (sic) with Laura, I had my doubts about a long and lasting commitment, but I never said anything, and I eventually hurt her very, very deeply. It was as if Bev had acquired the right to do whatever he wanted. Last year, I grew Fortamino but the seeds didnt do well at all. THE NEWSWEEK POLL (c) 1995 BY NEWSWEEK, INC. He is known to some local young women as "The Catch.". According to Findlay, Smith claimed: * that her husband was tapping her phone and having her followed; * that she had had an affair with Findlay's father; * that she made up the story of the affair with the elder Findlay to test his son's feelings for her; * that she was considering having an affair with the husband of a good friend; * that she had had an affair with Beverly Russell and David Smith was going to publicize it. The mom of two made headlines at the time of the news due to her shocking motive and she has since been behaving herself behind bars, which means she could soon be a free woman. It is the story of a woman who, to judge by the evidence ofher life, succumbed to her own molestation as a teenager and grew up to become a promiscuous, sexually exploitive adult. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. The case of Susan Smith, the woman who killed her young sons in 1994, will be explored in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries Cellmate Secrets. I have never felt so needed. You are a very special person and that is part of why making love to you is so wonderful. On November 3, 1994, David and Susan appeared on the CBS This Morning program and David expressed his full support for Susan and her story about the kidnapping. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. The fact is, I just don't want children. ", But the letters, both friendly in tone, did not reveal what witnesses described as Smith's growing anxiety or her ploys for attention from Findlay, who said she gratefully described his "Dear Susan" missive as "the sweetest letter she'd ever gotten.". We are just two totally different people, and eventually, those differences would cause us to break up. Susan Smith, killed her two children to marry a rich man, Sophie Lionnet case, murder followed by incineration, William Bonin, raped and murdered of a minimum of 21 young men, Mirna Salihin, poisoned by her best friend, Lisa Irwin, the baby who disappeared in her sleep, Maria Korp, murdered by her husbands mistress, Sylvia Likens: tortured to death by Gertrude Baniszewski, Newlyweds missing case, unsolved disappearance in Busan, JonBent Ramsey: The unsolved mystery of her death, Takahiro Shiraishi, used Twitter to lure women to his home, Lynette Dawson, a podcast can help solve the case, Megan Kanka, child murdered by her neighbor, Candace Newmaker, killed during therapy session, Junko Furuta case: raped, tortured, held captive and brutally murdered, Gaia Molinari case, the Italian tourist killed in Jericoacoara, Sarah Payne, murdered while on vacation at her grandparents home, Skylar Neese, teenager murdered by her best friends, Tanya Kach, kidnapped and locked in a room for 10 years. He relocated to another city and runs an art business using his first and middle name. If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. These evil perverts should be castrated (preferably with a blunt knife). The divorce apparently led her millworker father, Harry Vaughan, to commit suicide one month later, an event that may have helped create the emotional vacuum that has haunted her ever since. There is someone out there for you. "Really, I think this is an example of how little this situation is on the minds of people who live here. The Barnes family of Maple Shade, N.J., sent an arrangement of carnations and daisies. These feelings may change one day, but I doubt it. She served a pizza dinner to Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, and tenderly strapped them into their car seats. The highway sign simply reads John D. Long Lake. We have been raised in two totally different environments, and therefore, think totally different. ``I know how you feel about our relationship and I respect that. Carbon on Estamino was late to mature. On one hand, I feel sorry for the guy because he got wrapped in this mess when he clearly stated he wanted nothing to do with the girl. Besides, I want you to feel good about yourself, and I am afraid that if you sleep with B. These feelings may change one day, but I doubt it. He finally understood that it all resulted from Susans desire to rebuild her relationship with Tom Findlay. THE BOYFRIEND'S STORY. Despite its steamy undertones--despite the ripe mixture of family dysfunction and sexual shenanigans-the Smith case is ultimately a story of heartbreaking human loss. Current Mayor Harold Thompson said while it is something the people of Union try to forget, its a part of history now., ABC News 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!). Allen, for one, doesn't need reminders. "What's wrong?" The flowers came with thank-you notes. Williams testified about a conversation with Susan Smith on Oct. 17, eight days before the murders: "I have a problem," Smith said. I was not in my right mind., In July 1995, Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, which is around the corner in November 2024. Sheriff Howard Wells served time for public corruption in 2010. He cited the differences in their backgrounds, and was also emphatic about not wanting children or wanting to raise children. Citizens support the death penalty in general, but frequently refuse to apply it when, as in the Smith case, they are confronted with a face, a name and human frailties that, however lurid, bear at least some resemblance to their own. Suspicious authorities directly confront Smith after a futile nine-day search. It was only last week that the true, terrible scope of Smith's dismal world came clear. Beverly Bev Russell, a successful local businessman. HLNTV 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." After Smith confessed, hundreds came to stand on the ramp, pray over that ground, throw flowers on the quiet surface of the lake and, later, touch the smooth granite monuments erected by the waterside. . ``Friends Forever, (two heart-shaped designs). The idea that she would kill her . " Cladwell said Smith then began crying, said she wanted to go home, and stalked out, hollering in the hallway of the sheriff's office: "I just can't believe they think I did it.". This year, I am considering a few varieties for graft, Take Action Now: How You Can Fight Climate Change and Protect Our Environment, The Effects of Climate Change on Our Environment Patrick is in there. Smith's supervisor, Sandra Williams, testified about the day Michael and Alex Smith disappeared. Im just going to live one day at a time. She seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early. As you can imagine, the sexual abuse continued and this time with more frequency. The letter about the reasons for the breakup, written by Tom, was also inside the car. Their last meetings came on Oct. 25 at the Conso plant. Last summer, Tim and Angie Phillips came with their three small children and two family friends, one of them a 3-year-old. Susan had a troubled childhood, which was plagued with suicide attempts and traumatizing events. . Miller saved videos of local newscasts and the Smiths' network interviews, and recently appeared in a Smith documentary for the Arts and Entertainment Network. But unfortunately, it won't be me. ``Even though you think we have much in common, we are vastly different. Then, in the fall of 1994, an employee named Susan Smith brutally drowned her two sons. The relationship deteriorated more and more. Susanslover Tom Findlaydoes not appear to have an online presence now. . I remembered how I hurt Laura, and I wont let that happen again; and therefore, I cant let myself get close to you. I was a good mother, and I loved my boys. Pastors who together counseled the inconsolable community became close friends. I told her the intimate part of our relationship would have to end. 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. Are Janelle, Christine and Meri Suing Kody Over Money From Coyote Pass? SUSAN SMITH'S LETTER TO TOM FINDLAY Dear Tom, Just a note to say thank you for everything. From an early age Susan Smith lived in a troubled environment, in a wealthy family that was overly concerned with appearances. "This case was an awful case of tragedy from the beginning. At the age of 16 her stepfather started to molest her. We are the home of true crimeMade with in Brazil. 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. She went to Lake John D. Long and drove up a ramp, got out of the car, put the car in movement, released the parking brake and watched the car, with her children sleeping in the back seat, sank into the lake. UNION, S.C. - Michael would have turned 6 last month, and Alex by now would be 4. And your friendship is one that I will always look upon with sincere affection. It was October 25, 1994, Susan was at work. Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh if he is convicted of the bombing in Oklahoma City? Susan graduated from Union High School in 1989 and went to work in the local Winn-Dixie supermarket as a checkout girl. The card reads, "Never forgotten.". Sordid and tragic and powerfully real, Susan Smith's story begins with sex and ends with the murder of innocents. I am shocked how nobody speaks of him yet he casued so much harm by modeling Susan at 15 AND kept on having sex with Susan his dauther after Susan got maried. According to previously secret records from a state family court, Russell began molesting Susan when she was 15. All Rights Reserved. David felt left out. ``Susan, I am not mad at you about what happened this weekend. 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