Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Child Killer Susan Smith Shut Down By Parole Board

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Notorious child murderer Susan Smith lost her first bid for parole Wednesday. Smith is serving a life sentence in South Carolina for the 1994 murders of her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. Smith drove the boys into a lake and claimed she'd been carjacked by a black man. The parole board's decision was unanimous. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy lays out what Susan Smith said and the emotional statements from Michael and Alex's father, David Smith, his family and prosecutors in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lccrimefix and access information about almost anyone!Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. I want to say how very sorry I am. Susan Smith, who drowned her two young sons, Michael and Alex, in a lake more than 30 years ago, appears in front of the South Carolina Parole Board for the very first time asking to be released, while the boy's father, David Smith, and prosecutors argued against parole. This wasn't a tragic mistake. It wasn't something that she didn't mean to do.

She purposely meant to end their life. I never have felt any remorse from her for it. I have the emotional testimony and the board's decision to keep Susan Smith behind bars. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. For the first time, Susan Smith appeared in front of the parole board in South Carolina, and it didn't go as she had hoped. Smith was convicted of murdering her young sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, drowning them in John D. Long Lake in October 1994. Smith claimed a Black man carjacked her in Union County, South Carolina, and took her car with Michael and Alex inside, but let her go.

The story made national news for nine days, and Smith kept up the lie until she couldn't any longer. Smith confessed to driving her car into the lake with Michael and Alex strapped into their car seats. A man she had been seeing at the time had broken it off with her and told her he wasn't interested in raising children. The prosecutor believed that that was the motive for the murder. Former solicitor Tommy Pope had sought the death penalty for Smith, but the jury, hearing evidence that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather and may have had a mental break, opted for a life sentence. That sentence made Smith eligible for parole after serving 30 years. Today, Smith told the parole board why she believes she served enough time for the murders of Michael and Alex. First of all, I want to say how very sorry I am. It's okay Susan, just talk with us. I know that what I did was so horrible.

And I would give anything if I could go back and change it. And I love Michael and Alex with all my heart. Ms. Smith, were you under the influence of drugs or alcohol the night that you murdered your children? No, ma'am, I was not. Smith's attorney told the parole board that she had mental health problems. It is a mental health story. It's about the dangers of untreated mental health. It is about the lack of insight, the lack of diagnosis into mental health. Your attorney talked about working with mental health.

Is that helpful to you? Ma'am? Mr. Thomas talked about the fact that you were working with mental health, and my question is, is that helpful to you? Yes, ma'am. Is that something that you would be willing to continue with on the outside if you were granted parole? Yes, ma'am.

No. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Ms. Smith, your crime took a lot of resources from the law enforcement community. What, if anything, would you say to the folks who worked so hard to find your children if you had the opportunity to speak to them today? I'm sorry that I put them through that. I really, really am. And I'm especially sorry to the divers that I had to find them. I wish I could take that back. I really do.

I was really, I didn't want to get away with it. I really didn't. I was just scared. I didn't know how I could tell the people that loved him that they would never see him again. I didn't know how I could tell David he couldn't see his son again. And I'm sorry. I don't know. I know that's not enough.

I know it's not. But I don't know. I know that's not enough. I know it's not, but I don't know. I know that it's just like words, but they come from my heart. They really do. The case of Susan Smith murdering her two young sons, Michael and Alex, is unbelievable even 30 years later. Smith has been behind bars since 1994. I put her name into treefinder.com, the world's largest public record search service, to see what I would find. Susan Smith appears in the search results. She's 53 and her conviction for the murders of Michael and Alex appears in the search results, along with the fact that she is eligible for parole. Truthfinder is a great resource because it will show you criminal and

traffic records, past addresses, social media accounts, phone numbers, and the relatives of the people you search. And the one thing that I like about Truthfinder, it will also show you the addresses of registered sex offenders in your neighborhood. If you'd like to try Truthfinder, I have a great deal for you. You can get 50% off of confidential background reports. Just log on to www.truthfinder.com slash lccrimefix and start accessing information about almost anyone. The parole board looks at whether an inmate has been rehabilitated during their incarceration. Smith's time behind prison walls has been marked by a number of infractions. She was transferred to another prison after having sex with two prison guards. She's been in trouble for using

marijuana and using another inmate's PIN number, and there have been suicide attempts. From 2015 until this year, Susan Smith didn't have any reprimands. But then in August, prison officials said they caught Smith talking with a journalist on her prison tablet, and that's a violation of the prison rules. A document says, the conversations clearly discuss conducting an interview and even filming a documentary and ways to get paid for it. They also discussed in depth the crime and the events leading up to and after it actually took place, including such details as to what was in the trunk of the car when it went into the water and her plans to jump

from a bridge while holding the boys, but one woke up. The document said Smith promised to provide contact information for family and friends, including David Smith, and that the filmmaker was putting money on Susan Smith's canteen and phone call account. Smith lost her tablet privileges for 90 days, but she says she's appealing. The chair of the parole board asked Smith about her prison record. I've never been in trouble before, and the things that I have been found guilty of in here have been just stupidity. I know I made a lot of mistakes in here and I have learned from them. And before this last infraction had been 10 years. Because I grew up and I knew that I needed to stop making dumb decisions.

And I did. I knew it was time to grow up and do the right things. I just made a lot of decisions and mistakes in here. So I know I've learned from those mistakes. Ma'am, what do you think is the most important thing that you've learned while you've been incarcerated? Ma'am, what do you think is the most important thing that you've learned while you've been incarcerated?

That people are important. That forgiveness and love, that family is important, and that decisions we make not just affect us, they affect the people that we love. And not to take things or people for granted. All right. Is there anything else that you would like to tell us today that wasn't in your packet or that has not already been said? I would just like to say that I am a Christian, and God is a big part of my life

and I know he has forgiven me and it is by his grace and mercy and I have a lot of faith and I live by that every day and I just ask that that you show that same kind of mercy as well and you show that same kind of mercy as well. And I guess that's it. Thank you.

Smith's lawyer said she plans to live with her brother and has been working on an associate's degree. She's a Christian and she's tutored other inmates and helped them get their GEDs. Two longtime friends of Smith's also spoke on her behalf, supporting her release. It certainly has been for Susan during her 30 years in prison, and especially the first part of her time that she was there. It's been easy. She attempted suicide several times. And she had a couple of run-ins where guards were able to use her for their pleasure and that's a bad situation and was dealt with. She has surrounded herself with a caring support community that advises and encourages her,

and she listens to them. But then it was time for the parole board to hear from the only people who were there to speak for three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, their father David, his wife Tiffany, and other family members. Former Solicitor Tommy Pope and current Solicitor Kevin Brackett were also there. It's been a tough 30 years. I'm not here to speak about what she's done in prison. We all have the records and accounts of all that.

I'm just here to advocate on Michael and Alex's behalf and as their father. You know, God gives us free choice and she made free choice that night to end her life. This wasn't a tragic mistake. It wasn't something that she didn't mean to do. She purposely meant to end her life. I never have felt any remorse from her for it. She's never expressed any to me. I've never seen it on paper.

Now she, as you've heard, she changed my life for the rest of my life that night. Some for the better, some for the worse, but what she did not only to Michael and Alex, she came pretty close to causing me to end my life because of the grief that she brought upon me. But thankfully she didn't. I understand back in 95 that through the state's law, life in prison meant 30 years to life. And now that's different, but at that time, that's what counts. I understand that.

But ultimately, to me, that's only 15 years per child. Her own children it's just not enough so I'm asking that you please do not hurt Pearl today and hopefully in the future, but specifically today. Not let her out. I miss them very much and I love them very much. And I will be here every two years going forward to ensure that your death doesn't go in vain. Thank you.

David Smith's wife, Tiffany Smith, also spoke about the loss of Michael and Alex and watching her husband live through the last 30 years. As David's wife, I have stood by him for the last 30 years and watched his pain, his suffering, his dark days that you cannot imagine. It's been hard as a loving wife to stand back and watch him suffer the pain that he has gone through. To not want to get out of bed some days. To not be able to get out of bed. Because because the pain was so much for him. And for 30 years, we had thought this day would never come. But yeah, here we are.

I don't feel that it's time for her to be let out, because she took two lives. She didn't just take one. She took two precious little boys that we haven't been able to watch grow up. And as Becky stated earlier, all the things that we've missed out on because of them not being here, all the things they missed out on growing up in and doing. And for her to be in prison for the last 30 years, you would think that she would have thought about what she's done.

She would have said, I'm sorry. But she hasn't said, I'm sorry. She hasn't even called him. She hasn't even told him she's done. She would have said, I'm sorry, but she hasn't said, I'm sorry. She hasn't even called him. He hasn't even told him she was sorry. Much less the world. For nine days, all I can think about is how much she lied and manipulated everybody, the whole world. I watched it and believed her myself. The parole board also heard from Savannah Smith, David and Tiffany Smith's daughter. She was born years after Michael and Alex were killed. What I had stolen from me was two older brothers, the good and the bad of having older siblings. And I now try to use my life as

a way to live for them. And growing up, I didn't quite understand it my whole life, but when I finally did, I felt like I had witnessed it like I was there. The pain that not only was caused to me in like a domino effect, firsthand with my father, my aunt, and our whole hometown. We can no longer say that we're from Union County without Susan's actions being brought up. And just for the sake of all of us and our whole community, I ask that you deny her request. And then it was Tommy Pope's turn. He was the solicitor who prosecuted Smith and had sought the death penalty. Susan's conduct from the day she rolled the kids in the lake, the defense claimed a botched

suicide, but she was able to save herself. She was able to blame a black guy. She wasn't wet. She wasn't injured when she runs to the house and concocts this story. Susan has always focused on Susan. I will believe to the end of my time that Susan made a horrible, horrible choice to choose a man over her family. I said the boys were in the car.

Her wedding gown was in the car. her wedding gown was in the car, her wedding album was in the car. She thought in a nice package she could roll that away. If she could have put David in the car, he would have been there too. In a nice package, she could roll that away and start this new life with this other man. And she led everyone on, including David, for nine horrible days. And so as you look at her conduct in prison, whether it was a relationship with guards, the social media, the attention, the conduct recently with the publisher, Susan, you know, she's got people outside, I'm sure you've heard from them, that want to take care of her. Susan has always focused on what's best for Susan. And so the evidence that you have

before you, I think, tells clearly that she has not focused on Michael and Alex. She only has and continues to focus on herself. And so on behalf of this family, on behalf of justice and the justice for this case, it's not about her behavior or what she would do when getting out. But I know one of your criteria is the nature of the crime and whether the punishment is there. And I would submit for the crime she committed, the action she committed, that punishment has not been achieved yet. And so I would ask you to deny parole. Now, thank you for your time. And the current solicitor, Kevin Brackett, also addressed the parole board. I've reviewed the file. I've pulled some of the evidence out, which is in a closet just off my office. Evidence like the note that was written to Susan Smith by her boyfriend,

the man she was cheating on her husband with, who told her in the note that he could not be with her anymore because he didn't want children, and that they had no long-term future because he didn't want children, and that they had no long-term future, because he didn't want children. And then one week later, she's rolling her car down the ramp at John D. Long Lake with her two children strapped into the back. She betrayed her husband when she cheated on him, and she betrayed her children against the laws of nature when she should have been sworn to protect those children.

She betrayed them when she left them in the seat and rolled that car down. And she was not trying to commit suicide. She was trying to change her life. She wanted to kill her old life and start anew. The parole board voted swiftly with one member recusing herself because she had worked at a prison that housed Smith. The vote was unanimous to deny parole for Susan Smith. As a reminder, Mrs. Meara did recuse herself. Ms. Susan Smith is denied parole. The vote is unanimous in verse one and six. Thank you. Today has been 30 years coming. Didn't want sure how to feel what to expect. I know what I was hoping.

I think Susan in the last 30 years, through her action, has continued to prove that it's all about her. What all this has done to her, how it has affected her. I haven't seen any remorse from her. So for her to think that I would even speak on her behalf, I do not understand that. In the end, David Smith wants people to remember the victims in this case, his two little boys, Michael and Alex, who would be in their 30s had they been allowed to live that October night in 1994. The committee made the right decision and denied her parole at least I know

for now she'll still be behind bars and for two more years there'll still be justice for Michael and Alex and David Smith says he will be back for each and every parole hearing to oppose Susan Smith's release. The next one will be held two years from now. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me.

I'll see you back here next time.