Woman soon up for parole 30 years after driving into SC lake, killing 2 young kids

UNION, S.C. — Thirty years ago this week, Susan Smith drowned her two little boys in a South Carolina lake. She lied and said a man carjacked her, leading to a nationwide manhunt.

The case rocked the entire country.

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Smith eventually confessed and was sentenced to life in prison. But now, decades later, she will soon be up for parole.

Channel 9′s Tina Terry got a behind-the-scenes look at evidence from the case that hasn’t been seen by the public. Kevin Brackett, the 16th Circuit Solicitor, was one of the men who helped prosecute Smith’s case years ago. As he fights to keep Smith in prison, Brackett showed Terry records that he saved from the case 30 years ago.

‘A worldwide phenomenon’

Susan Smith became a household name on Oct. 25, 1994.

“I would like to say to whoever has my children that they’d please, they’d please bring them home to us where they belong,” she said then.

The young mother from Union, South Carolina claimed a Black man carjacked her and took off with her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 1-year-old Alex, in the backseat.

“For about eight days, there was a nationwide manhunt,” Brackett said. “It captured the imagination of the entire country and the world. It became a worldwide phenomenon, so to speak.”

Volunteers searched for days. Police took tips from people across the country who claimed they’d spotted the suspect. Brackett showed Terry a sketch artist’s drawing based on how Smith described the suspect.

“This is the image that went around the country and everybody was looking for this guy,” he said.

But Smith confessed that it was all a lie.

“This is her final confession where she finally admitted that she did kill them,” Brackett said.

In that letter, Smith said she tried to kill herself as well by driving into the John D. Long Lake but jumped out at the last minute, drowning her two boys in their car seats.

Brackett read the confession aloud to Terry.

“‘Why was I feeling this way? Why was everything so bad in my life? I had no answers to all these questions. I dropped to the lowest point when I allowed my children to go into the water without me,’” he read.

‘It was horrifying’

At the time, Brackett was an assistant solicitor at just 29 years old. He rushed to the town of Union and was there as workers pulled Smith’s car, a Mazda Protege, from the lake.

“When you look — and you could see the two car seats and the children — it was horrifying,” he said. “It was quiet, eerie. Everybody was just shocked and stunned.”

Smith was arrested and charged with two counts of murder.

Brackett showed Terry a water-damaged wedding photo album with pictures of Smith and her estranged husband, David. The album was found in the trunk of her car.

“We thought it was sort of symbolic of her efforts to end that part of her life,” he told Terry. “Get rid of the kids, the marriage, the whole thing — it will all end.”

Prosecutors started their investigation and discovered a shocking motive.

“She had been having an adulterous relationship with the son of one of the wealthiest people in Union County,” Brackett said.

That man, Tom Findlay, testified in her trial. He spoke about a “Dear Jane” letter written Oct. 17, 1994, just days before Smith’s sons were killed. Brackett read the letter to Terry.

“‘Susan, I could really fall for you,’” Brackett read. “‘You have so many endearing qualities about you and I think you are a terrific person.’”

The letter went on to say, “... Like I told you before, there are some things about you that aren’t suited for me, and yes, I am speaking about your children. I am sure that your kids are good kids, but it really wouldn’t matter how good they might be, the fact is I just don’t want children.”

“Our theory was — and I believe to this day — she was just clearing the field to allow her to continue her relationship with that man,” Brackett said.

Brackett also showed Terry an Auburn sweatshirt, which prosecutors said Findlay gave to Smith during their affair. She was wearing it during her first interview after she murdered her sons but before she was caught.

“So she’s almost telegraphing, ‘I’m wearing the sweatshirt you gave me. The kids are now kidnapped. I’m sympathetic’ and in her mind, she knows the kids are not kidnapped, she knows they’re in the lake,” Brackett said.

Up for parole

Smith was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, which in South Carolina at the time meant she’d be eligible for parole in 30 years. But Brackett plans to speak at her parole hearing in hopes of keeping her behind bars.

“I think a lot of people would expect that she would serve a full life sentence — life meaning life,” he said. “Life until she’s dead, life. Not life, 30 years life, she gets out in her 40s or 50s.”

Susan Smith becomes eligible for parole on Nov. 4. Kevin Brackett plans to be at her hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 20, and will ask the parole board to keep her incarcerated.

Anyone interested in opposing parole for Smith can click here to fill out an application.

‘A lot of tension’

In Union, the town where it all happened, the pain from the case is still very real.

John D. Long Lake was quiet and serene when Terry visited. She spoke with one neighbor who remembered the unthinkable crime that shook his town 30 years ago.

“It was shocking because the situation was so dynamic that you can’t picture a person doing something to their own children like that,” he said.

He said he remembers the week-long search for 3-year-old Michael and 1-year-old Alex.

(Watch video below: Small SC town still scarred 30 years after woman drowns sons in lake)

Small SC town still scarred 30 years after woman drowns sons in lake

“It was a lot of tension,” he said. “You could feel there was a lot of racial tension from the statement of a Black man that took two little white kids, so there was a lot of tension at the time.”

So many in the small town desperately searched for the children, not knowing what really happened.

“We’re forming groups to go around and distribute flyers. It has pictures of the suspect and the missing children,” one volunteer said back in 1994.

But some neighbors were suspicious.

“As I continued to see her talk on the news, something just resonated in me that something ain’t right about this story, because she’s telling you something that happened and she, like, don’t even have tears,” the Union native told Terry. “She’s just crying, but there’s no tears.”

Prison record

Terry learned that during Smith’s time in prison, she’s had about a half-dozen disciplinary actions in three decades.

In 2010 and 2015, she was punished for using a narcotic.

Perhaps the most serious accusation came just two weeks ago, when Smith was convicted in prison for “communicating with a victim and/or witness.” The Department of Corrections said Smith took part in “telephone calls with a documentary filmmaker about her crimes” and that she “agreed to provide the filmmaker with contact information for friends, family and, victims, including her former husband. The filmmaker also deposited money into Smith’s account.”

All of that violates prison policy and is likely to come up in just a few weeks when Smith officially becomes eligible for parole.

“Her job will be to convince them that she’s reformed, changed, capable. She’s paid her debt,” Solicitor Brackett said.

Brackett said Smith will have to prove to the parole board that she should be released, but he does not believe she should and he plans to make that clear at her hearing.

“She has not been reformed. I don’t think she can be. I think this is just who she is,” he said.

He said Michael and Alex were Smith’s first victims, but the public — both locally and nationwide — were also impacted.

“She didn’t have to do this. She put Union County through automatic hell,” a neighbor said back in 1994.

“She kept this whole community and nation in suspense for nine days,” another neighbor said then.

“There were a lot of collateral victims that people don’t typically think of as victims,” Brackett said. “The public as a whole was traumatized by this, and I think the public has a right to express their opinion as well now. And I hope they share their opinion in writing as to whether or not she should be released.”

The parole board has absolute discretion to either grant or deny parole for Susan Smith. Click here to share your thoughts with the board.

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