Their last meetings came on Oct. 25 at the Conso plant. I can see this may be a bit difficult for you because you are a bit boy crazy, but as the proverb states `good things come to those who wait. I am not saying you shouldnt go out and have a good time. "He was threatening to her. He also reiterated that at no point, he suggested that her children were the only obstacle in any potential relationship with her., Something went very wrong that night. Tom Findlay, Susan Smith's ex-lover, started a new life in Birmingham, Ala. Cary Findlay, who is Tom Findlay's father and Susan Smith's former employer, let his mansion become a bed-and-breakfast; he now divides his time between England and Union. Susan decides to use emotional appeals. ``It is 11:50 p.m. and I am getting very sleepy. Linda Vaughan married stockbroker Beverly Russell, the son of a leading local family, about a year and a half later. They courted Walt Disney, which is building a catalog distribution warehouse in Union County; more than 300 people will get jobs. ``I do hope that we will be able to date some and be together again someday, but if we never made love again, my feelings for you would not change because having you as my friend is worth more than sex could ever be worth. You will, without a doubt, make some lucky man a great wife. [2] She seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early. . Tom Findlay is the son of Cary Findlay, president of the company. But just dont get seriously involved with anyone until you have done the things in life that you want to do, first. Her experience as an accountant earned her a position at Conso Products. Although Russell clearly initiated sexual contact, the case file suggests Susan may have led him on. You will without a doubt make some lucky man a great wife. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. He even admitted to having sexual encounters with Susan as recently as August 1994, less than three months before she killed her sons. THE NEWSWEEK POLL (c) 1995 BY NEWSWEEK, INC. Sheriff Howard Wells took polygraph tests on David and Susan. Susan stood by and watched until the car was completely submerged. Williams said Smith came to her in tears that afternoon and asked to go home early. After picking up her children from nursery, she stopped to chat with a friend in a parking lot and expressed her fears about Tom's reaction now that he knew she had slept with his father. ", 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.". The jury found otherwise -- a tacit recognition that the core issue was whether Smith was mentally ill. South Carolina's definition of insanity is one of the most restrictive in the nation: it did not permit Smith to plead not guilty by reason of insanity or, more plausibly, temporary, insanity. He hired Smith as an assistant to his executive assistant in 1994, and she got to know his son while working at the Conso plant. He told her he felt like some kind of pervert when it happened." The dramatic high pointcame when he read aloud from a letter he'd sent Susan on Father's Day, 1995, when she was already in prison. Whether you are using plastic or fabric containers, Earthboxes, or even old buttercream buckets, there are a few important things to consider before planting. "Susan, I could really fall for you," he continued. 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. Susan graduated from Union High School in 1989 and went to work in the local Winn-Dixie supermarket as a checkout girl. Shortly after joining the company she was promoted to the position of executive secretary to Consos president and CEO, Carey Findlay. What more is there to say?". "Everything I had planned on, my life with my kids, was gone. Some are proud to belong to a community that refused to wither in the spotlight. Susan Smith Trial: 1995 Defendant: Susan SmithCrime Charged: MurderChief Defense Lawyers: David Bruck and Judy ClarkeChief Prosecutor: Tommy PopeJudge: . On the other hand, he sounds quite narcissistic and preachy in his Dear John letter, and he isnt even attractive. "A passing love affair," Halleck called it. The jury took less than 3 hours to return a guilty verdict on two charges of murder. I have never felt so needed. The children were hastily put in their car seats, nor were their shoes on. ", No other details of the purported affair between Russell and Smith were disclosed, and defense attorney David Bruck underscored the revelation on cross-examination, asking, "She had had a relationship with her own stepfather, Bev Russell?". Her confession of pushing the car into the lake began to come out. ``Even though you think we have much in common, we are vastly different. However, he said in an interview last year that there are still hard days, particularly on his boys birthdays and around the anniversary of their death. Last year, I grew Fortamino but the seeds didnt do well at all. Plastic or resin containers are usually reasonably priced and large enough for indeterminate tomatoes, but fabric containers, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our, LETTER FROM SUSAN SMITH TO TOM FINDLAY - HIS LETTER IN RESPONSE. "I'll never forget what Susan has done to me and my family, [and] I even have to say, to her family," Smith said. 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. He is known to some local young women as "The Catch.". ", June Miller, the clerk of court, says, "It's over and done with and we go on with our lives.". You will without a doubt make some lucky man a great wife. ``Again, you will always have my friendship. Now, at Foster Park, there's a new set of playground equipment, and a marker, in memory of the Smith boys. The emerging facts of her chaotic life--her father's suicide, her molestation by her politically prominent stepfather, her failed marriage and the tabloid prurience of her repeated love affairs-seemed to make her a symbol of small-town decadence. They planned historic-home tours, an art exhibit, a barbecue cookoff, a log-rolling contest and live bands. "We agreed the intimate part of our relationship should be postponed till she was divorced," Findlay testified. 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." Either way, before you settle down with anyone again, there is something you need to do. Tom Findlay, Susan Smith's ex-lover, started a new life in Birmingham, Ala. Cary Findlay, who is Tom Findlay's father and Susan Smith's former employer, let his mansion become a. The jury was 11-1 in favor of life in prison when it began deliberating her sentence, and the lone hard-liner finally joined the majority. TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 1994 _ Susan Smith's boyfriend, Tom Findlay, breaks off their relationship saying he doesn't want the responsibility of children. Susan Smith has been returned to her tiny cell at the Women's Correctional Institution in Columbia, S.C. She has no personal possessions, no contact with other inmates and she wears only paper gowns--a precaution against suicide, because real clothes can be turned into nooses. She keeps business cards of reporters she may never see again. He was considered twenty years ago to be the most eligible bachelor in Union, as the son of a wealthy mill owner. In fact, its probably someone that you may not know at this time or that you may know, but would never expect. Smith's supervisor, Sandra Williams, testified about the day Michael and Alex Smith disappeared. For court records, I would make a request to Union County if you cant find them online. "Susan, I am not mad at you about what happened" at the hot-tub party, Findlay wrote. ``Well, I hope I said everything right. He really got a bad rap out of all of this even though, IMHO, he had no contribution to the situation. By October 1994, Susan had already signed divorce papers with David. Despite Davids protests, Susan Smith was spared the death sentence and received a 30-year prison sentence. 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. The children received love, attention, and were very happy. Actually, he is online. As you can imagine, the sexual abuse continued and this time with more frequency. In the summer of 1988, Susan got a temporary job as a cashier at a local grocery store. And special thanks to my fellow true crime buffs in the True Crime Discussions group on FB, especially PAT! "There will always be something to remind each of us that such a thing happened here," she says. "Had I been true to you in my responsibilities, you would have been stronger in yourself, not needing to be constantly supported and reassured emotionally. Susan and Tom began dating in January 1994, however, Susan and David got back together in the spring. So, where are all of the key players now, including the woman at the center of it all? Susan Smith chose to do the worst thing a mother can do and covered it up, Pope argued, pushing for the death penalty. But it seems Susan just couldn't keep her lips dry, and one night Findlay found her in his own hot tub kissing another man. Over the next several days, Findlay testified, they had a series of highly emotional conversations. Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, answered with Christ's defense of the adulterous wife in the Gospel according to John. As deeply depressed as she was that Tom had ended their relationship, she was still sexually involved with David - and with her step-father, Bev Russell. "Giving her the death penalty wouldn't serve justice.". Her mother was never good at solving her emotional problems, and her fathers suicide seemed to create a wound that never healed. Susan Smith called the police saying that she had her car stolen by a black man who kidnapped her two young children. The highway sign simply reads John D. Long Lake. Williams asked again. Why not simply give custody of the boys to their father? Prosecutor Tommy Pope went into private practice in 2006 and is now a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Final testimony for the prosecution includes a tearful David Smith saying, 'All my hopes and dreams, everything that I had planned for the rest of my life-it ended that day. These evil perverts should be castrated (preferably with a blunt knife). 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. ``Friends Forever, (two heart-shaped designs). The married man broke off their extramarital relationship and her reaction to the breakup was to attempt suicide by taking painkillers. Employees of Winn-Dixie, the grocery store where David Smith worked, paid for it as a lasting tribute. They contacted two of the nation's largest newspapers, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, to suggest a news item. " Other key figures in the case have gone on to both fame and failure. And your friendship is one that I will always look upon with sincere affection. He cited the differences in their backgrounds, and was also emphatic about not wanting children or wanting to raise children. Who is he to be dishing out advice? Michael was born in 1991, Alex followed in 1993 and Susan gave every appearance of being a doting mother. After the first sentence, insert eyes rolling in parentheses. Russell, 48, was then active in South Carolina Republican politics and in Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition--but he is no longer, and the shattering disclosures triggered by his stepdaughter's prosecution are the reason. . Thank you for your article. The dead boys' father, David Smith, said he and his family were "disappointed" at the verdict. Before the murders, he wrote her a Dear John letter to Susan explaining why they could neverbe together, stating that he did not want children. Smith's natural father committed suicide when she was 6. Her attitude toward the kidnapping of her children was extremely exaggerated. ``But dont be discouraged. At the time of the murders, Susan and David were separated and David was working at the Winn-Dixie in Union where he met his now wife, Tiffany. In a last effort to control Toms feelings, she asked her friend to watch the children while she went to Toms office to tell him that everything she had said was nothing but a big lie. When it all came apart, she committed an act of savagery that defies understanding. The solution for the moment seemed to be to buy a house, where everything would be different. Many people believe her motive was because she was dating a man who didnt want children at the time. At the age of 16 her stepfather started to molest her. Susan Smith was both perpetrator and victim. But what can we do to help? Susans biological father committed suicide when she wassix. At the lake where they died, a little girl from Monroe, N.C., left a stuffed scarecrow and a pumpkin made of cornhusks. Despite the comings and goings of their marriage, they were always present in the upbringing and education of their children. Then he "slid her bra up and fondled her breast and took her hand and put it on his penis." He said she slammed her hand down on the table, uttered a profanity and said, " I can't believe you think that!' Smith's mother and stepfather are still around. We are just two totally different people, and eventually, those differences would cause us to break up. 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. 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. "I had a bad day," he said Smith replied. The psychiatric view was that Smith is a uniquely fragile person who had concealed her emotional conflicts for years. Shell have to keep behaving herself like she has been as of late, an insider told, Smith was also disciplined in 2000 for having sex four times with prison guard, , who later pleaded guilty and spent three months behind bars for the crime. Are Janelle, Christine and Meri Suing Kody Over Money From Coyote Pass? Follow me on Instagram down below. Russell signed a statement admitting his conduct and the family sought counseling-but Susan and her mother said they didn't want to prosecute. David Smith worked in the store as a produce clerk. Im sure that your kids are good kids, but it really wouldnt matter how good they may be the fact is, I just dont want children. . What the jurors heard was the fullest account yet of why she did it--and in the end, confronted with the pathos of it all, they decided both sides were right. SC State House If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. 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. But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasn't ready for a relationship involving kids. In this same period, Susan began to have a relationship with David, also a co-worker. "If they'd asked me, I'd have said drain the lake, shut the place down," says Cathy Allen, a Union teacher. The reason? She was told to press charges, which she refused to do. And as for your relationship with B. Smith had told him, 'i will love you for the rest of my life.'. It seemed to be the first time she had ever been rejected by a man. 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. Even before Susans confession, investigators already suspected her. Smith's relationship with Findlay, the son of a wealthy mill owner, has provided the prosecution with its motive for the murders of her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. David Smith, last anyone heard, had moved to Florida. He is known to some local young women as "The Catch." Tom Findlay testified as a prosecution witness at the trial-for. I would hate for people to perceive you as an unreputable [sic] person. And I want you to know that I am flattered that you have such a high opinion of me. The fact is, I just don't want children. Chicago Tribune Only a few days before Susan Smith drowned her two young sons, her former boyfriend testified today, he wrote her that the children were one reason their relationship could not continue. I could never express in words how much you mean to me. We won't post to any of your accounts without asking first. night and would take it back in a (heart-shaped design) beat if I could. Findlay senior owns a company called Conso Inc., which makes interior-decorating products; he is among the wealthiest Union County residents. Susan Smith is an American criminal who was found guilty of killing her two young sons in order to continue a relationship with a man. After the birth of their second son, Alexander Tyler, on August 5, 1993, David and Susan resumed their relationship, but within three weeks David once again moved out and they decided that the relationship was over. A team of state psychiatrists certified that Smith was competent to stand trial. Susan Smith's attorney, David Bruck, summed up the case as bad for all, calling it "an awful human tragedy." Join the world's news leader for an in-depth multimedia look at the top news stories of 1995. . Her ex, Tom Findlay, had broken up with her after having stated that he was not interested in having or raising children. Ms. Smiths letter (handwritten, not dated): ``Just a note to say thank you for everything. 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