UNION, S.C. (WSPA) — It’s a betrayal that was felt in homes across this country. A mother from Union begged for help to find her sons. Then, it was later revealed that she locked them in their car seats and rolled them into a lake
But Susan Smith’s lies are something you will never forget. She claimed a Black man carjacked her children. Her desperate pleas for their return quickly turned Union into a media circus. Across the nation, people looked everywhere for Michael and Alex.
Over nine excruciating days, doubts emerged. News leaked that Smith failed a lie detector test. Her shattered husband David’s only hope to see his children again, was to keep believing her.
Later, he’d find out his boys were rolled into John D. Long Lake. Prosecutors said it took six minutes for the car to sink.
The only journalist to interview Susan Smith the night of the crime was WSPA-TV reporter Cynthia Barnes Booker, who said she had a gut feeling Smith was lying because she would not make eye contact.
On the ninth day, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents interrogated Smith again. Then, the sheriff took her to a church to pray.
WSPA-TV broke into programming when sources said she’d confessed to involvement in the case. Then, Sheriff Howard Wells officially confirmed her involvement.
“Susan Smith has been arrested and will be charged with two counts of murder in connection with the death of Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months,” announced Wells from outside the Union County Courthouse.
Sorrow quickly turned to anger.
WSPA-TV carried the funeral for Michael and Alex. They were buried together in a single casket before an aching community.
The prosecutor at the time, Tommy Pope, said even getting a conviction was complicated when the sheriff gave sympathetic testimony.
“Half the sheriff’s testimony, you know, because he was Susan Smith’s godfather, in a strange twist. Half the sheriff’s testimony was in mitigation for Susan,” Pope said.
Pope opposes Smith’s parole.
“Clearly from her behavior, her relationship with the guards, or her pen pals, or sugar daddies waiting on her outside, Susan has spent 30 years focused on what’s best for Susan,” explained Pope. “And so I don’t think justice has been served if she would get out now.”
Susan’s had a series of behavior issues behind bars. Most recently, she violated the rules by speaking to a filmmaker who, corrections officials said, deposited money in her account.
Her first parole hearing will happen on Nov. 20 in Columbia.
