Please Return My Boys! The Susan Smith Story — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00hey profilers I hope everybody had a
2. 0:03good
3. 0:04Thanksgiving we did we went out to eat
4. 0:08had plenty to eat though I brought home
5. 0:10leftovers we came home Travis watched
6. 0:13football I watched the Guardians of the
7. 0:17Galaxy Christmas special that was really
8. 0:20cute and then I played some video games
9. 0:23watched some YouTube it was a fun day I
10. 0:26hope you guys had lots of fun lots of
11. 0:28food got see
12. 0:32family so I wanted to tell you guys
13. 0:36about Susan Smith because some of you
14. 0:40guys didn't know who she
15. 0:42was I have followed this case since it's
16. 0:45beginning in
17. 0:481994 and when I saw the um parole
18. 0:52hearing the other day go live I got
19. 0:55excited
20. 0:57because I didn't even realize that she
21. 1:01was up for
22. 1:02peole and as you listen to the episode
23. 1:06you will realize why I didn't realize
24. 1:09she was up for parole the jury that
25. 1:11convicted her didn't even realize that
26. 1:13she was going to be up for
27. 1:16parole so I got excited when I saw that
28. 1:19and I had to watch
29. 1:22it
30. 1:24and I realized as we were watching it
31. 1:26that some of you had no idea who she was
32. 1:29so so I wanted to make this video to
33. 1:31educate you guys because this woman is
34. 1:36woo this woman is a piece of
35. 1:38work so here we
36. 1:48[Music]
37. 1:53[Applause]
38. 1:55go Susan Smith was born Susan Le Von on
39. 2:00September 26
40. 2:021971 her father unived himself when she
41. 2:06was 6 years old and her mother later
42. 2:09remarried Beverly C Russell Jr who
43. 2:13essayed her up until she was 2 22 years
44. 2:17old even after she was married and had
45. 2:21kids now I'm not sure if that means it
46. 2:25became consensual at one point or not
47. 2:28now I'm not blaming the victim but
48. 2:30you'll see why as we get far farther in
49. 2:34that I don't know
50. 2:37because as a kid if you're essayed by
51. 2:40your stepdad or your dad or your uncle
52. 2:43or
53. 2:44whoever you have no
54. 2:48power to refuse that you know what I
55. 2:51mean but when you're married and you
56. 2:53have kids how does that keep going
57. 2:56without your consent you know what I
58. 2:58mean like I don't know
59. 3:00but you'll understand further and he
60. 3:04also testified at her
61. 3:07trial
62. 3:09that he did these things to her and he
63. 3:12thinks that that is a direct reason why
64. 3:15this happened which I don't I don't
65. 3:20follow so she attempted to on alive
66. 3:24herself by Odin on aspirin when she was
67. 3:2813
68. 3:30now I was a pediatric nurse
69. 3:35and too many people don't know this you
70. 3:38may know this but I feel like this needs
71. 3:40to be said cuz I didn't know this I
72. 3:42didn't learn this in nursing school I
73. 3:44didn't know this until I became a
74. 3:45pediatric nurse please keep what seems
75. 3:49to be innocuous over the counter
76. 3:51medications away from your depressed
77. 3:56teenagers they can cause slow
78. 4:00horrible terrible
79. 4:02deaths if
80. 4:05teenagers try to OD on them even if
81. 4:08they're just
82. 4:09like if it's just like a cry for help
83. 4:13you know and they're like oh I'm going
84. 4:15to show you I'm going to go take a whole
85. 4:17bottle of Tylenol
86. 4:19no
87. 4:21because just because it's over the
88. 4:23counter doesn't mean that it not
89. 4:26harmful
90. 4:27Tylenol destroys
91. 4:30your
92. 4:31liver and that is a terrible terrible
93. 4:35terrible slow
94. 4:36death ibuprofen kills your
95. 4:40kidneys I also took care of a girl that
96. 4:45drank toilet bowl cleaner I think it was
97. 4:48to try to kill
98. 4:50herself keep these things please keep
99. 4:53these things locked away even for
100. 4:57teenagers have them come ask you Mom I
101. 4:59have a headache I need some Tylenol I'm
102. 5:01serious y'all I'm
103. 5:04serious don't give them free rain even
104. 5:07if it's over the counter I'm telling
105. 5:10y'all these are dangerous you don't want
106. 5:13them to have free rain to just try to OD
107. 5:16on these
108. 5:17things even though they're over the
109. 5:19counter they will mess up if your kids
110. 5:21are prone to doing something like that
111. 5:25make sure they can't just get a hold of
112. 5:26however much Tylenol or what or aspirin
113. 5:29or ru whatever they want cuz they could
114. 5:32hurt themselves very
115. 5:35badly okay Soap Box off okay so After
116. 5:40High
117. 5:41School Susan had an affair with a
118. 5:43married man and he broke it off and she
119. 5:47once again tried to unal Alive
120. 5:51herself so then things got better for a
121. 5:54while she fell in love with David and
122. 5:57she got pregnant and they were married
123. 5:58in 19
124. 6:0091 Michael David Smith was born in
125. 6:041991 and then she and David separated in
126. 6:101992 but they reconciled and had
127. 6:13Alexander Tyler in
128. 6:171993 after this time they were on again
129. 6:21off again and Susan dated other people
130. 6:25now I'm not sure if David knew she was
131. 6:27dating other people because they were
132. 6:31estranged but she was still seeing David
133. 6:34as well as the other people that she was
134. 6:39dating she was dating her boss's son Tom
135. 6:43Finley but she was also having an affair
136. 6:47with her
137. 6:49boss Tom Finley's
138. 6:51dad
139. 6:53that's
140. 6:56icky Tom Finley wrote Susan a letter
141. 6:58breaking up with her shortly before the
142. 7:01boy's deaths it basically said that he
143. 7:04didn't want kids but that's not the only
144. 7:07reason that he didn't want to be with
145. 7:08her he called her boy crazy and thought
146. 7:12that she had missed out on her youth
147. 7:14because she had married and had kids at
148. 7:16such a young age apparently he had seen
149. 7:19her kissing another man over the weekend
150. 7:22and called her unreputable and told her
151. 7:25that he had lost respect for her that
152. 7:28man was also a a married man he said
153. 7:31that he was sure that her kids were nice
154. 7:33kids but that just wasn't for
155. 7:36him he still wanted to be her friend
156. 7:39though and he apologized for not getting
157. 7:42her a birthday present he said he would
158. 7:45get her a Christmas present though but
159. 7:47he didn't want her to get him
160. 7:49anything but a
161. 7:53card I couldn't find the whole letter
162. 7:56but I found someone reading it so I just
163. 8:00paraphrase the letter and I'll leave a
164. 8:01link in the description to if I can find
165. 8:05it again it's on Facebook somewhere the
166. 8:07guy that read it it is really bizarre it
167. 8:11starts off I hope you won't mind that I
168. 8:13did this in letter form because I get my
169. 8:17thoughts across better when I write them
170. 8:19out or something like that I mean like
171. 8:21it's it's super super
172. 8:24bizarre I think he just didn't want to
173. 8:28say it to her face cuz he didn't he knew
174. 8:30how she would
175. 8:32react I'm unclear if this was before or
176. 8:35after the letter but Susan told Tom that
177. 8:37she was also sleeping with his father
178. 8:39and he said that's too weird got to say
179. 8:42I'd have to agree with him on that
180. 8:45one why would you tell somebody that
181. 8:47like if you were seeing somebody and
182. 8:49then also seeing their
183. 8:52father why would you tell them that
184. 8:55that's just creepy h
185. 9:00on October 25th 1994 Susan Smith claimed
186. 9:05to be a victim of a
187. 9:07carjacking she ran to a stranger's house
188. 9:09and told them that a black man in a
189. 9:11tobogan had carjacked her at a red light
190. 9:15he had a gun stuck it in her ribs and
191. 9:17told her to drive he stopped the car in
192. 9:20the middle of the road near the lake and
193. 9:22told her to get out she told him to let
194. 9:26her get her children and told her that
195. 9:28he and he told her that he didn't have
196. 9:31time for that but he wouldn't hurt them
197. 9:34and drove off with her children still
198. 9:36buckled into their car seats then she
199. 9:39ran to a stranger's house and asked for
200. 9:41help that person called 911 however what
201. 9:45it actually happened was that Susan had
202. 9:47strapped the boys in their car seats
203. 9:50driven to the boat ramp at John D long
204. 9:53Lake release the parking breake and let
205. 9:57the car roll into the Lake drowning the
206. 9:59two
207. 10:01boys the story gained National then
208. 10:04International
209. 10:05attention people from Union South
210. 10:08Carolina say that people will still say
211. 10:11isn't that where that lady killed her
212. 10:13kids when they tell people where they're
213. 10:15from the next day the Smiths held a
214. 10:18press conference and did News
215. 10:21interviews there's no way to put the
216. 10:23genie back in the bottle it's impossible
217. 10:26to go back in time and view these
218. 10:27interviews as I first saw them believing
219. 10:30that she was telling the
220. 10:32truth but more importantly I think you
221. 10:34should remember that David didn't know
222. 10:37that she was lying the father of these
223. 10:40kids believed for nine days that there
224. 10:42was a possibility however slim that he
225. 10:45would see his children again she cried
226. 10:48and lied to him as well as everyone else
227. 10:51for nine days the whole time this father
228. 10:54who she was supposed to love or at least
229. 10:57care about was grieving and Afraid and
230. 11:00she knew where the boys were the entire
231. 11:04time she was lying to him the entire
232. 11:07time they were at the bottom of a lake
233. 11:11and she was begging the whole
234. 11:15country to be on the lookout for these
235. 11:17kids that a black man had
236. 11:20them that's
237. 11:24disgusting I can't think of anything
238. 11:26worse to put a parent through is just
239. 11:29makes me angry to think about somebody
240. 11:32doing that to a
241. 11:35father
242. 11:37so when I first watched these in real
243. 11:40time when they
244. 11:43happened I felt for both of them I
245. 11:46thought it was real I felt for both of
246. 11:48them I thought how sad for these people
247. 11:51now when I look back I try to
248. 11:55remember that he is really grieving he
249. 11:58didn't know
250. 12:00she's lying but he had no
251. 12:05idea U first of
252. 12:07all I would like to say to
253. 12:10whoever has my
254. 12:14children that they please I mean please
255. 12:18bring them
256. 12:20home to us where they
257. 12:24belong our lives have been torn apart by
258. 12:28this tragic event
259. 12:34[Music]
260. 12:36I can't
261. 12:37express how much they are wanting back
262. 12:41home how much we love them we miss
263. 12:45them they they they are our
264. 12:51hearts and who I have prayed every
265. 12:56day and there's not one minute that goes
266. 12:58by I don't think about these
267. 13:03boys and I have prayed that whoever has
268. 13:06them that the Lord would let them let
269. 13:09him
270. 13:11realize that they are missed and loved
271. 13:14more than any children in this
272. 13:18world and
273. 13:20that whoever has them I can't express it
274. 13:24enough that we we just got to get them
275. 13:26home that's just where they belong with
276. 13:28their mama and and
277. 13:31Daddy go
278. 13:34ahead I would like to take the time ple
279. 13:38to the American public that you please
280. 13:41do not give up on these two little boys
281. 13:45in the
282. 13:46search for their return save home to us
283. 13:50and you continue to look for this car Le
284. 13:53to our children and for the suspect
285. 13:56himself that you continue to keep your
286. 13:59eyes open and anything that you see that
287. 14:03might would help to please call and let
288. 14:06it be
289. 14:09known
290. 14:11U we
291. 14:13ask that you continue to pray for me and
292. 14:18my wife and for our family but most of
293. 14:22all that you continue to pray the
294. 14:24American public continue to pray for
295. 14:26Michael and Alex that they are returned
296. 14:28home
297. 14:29safely to their mother and father and
298. 14:32the family members who love them so much
299. 14:36that you pray most of all for them and
300. 14:37that they are being taken care of and
301. 14:39that they are safe and that they will
302. 14:42return home
303. 14:43safely but you got to take care of each
304. 14:47other and your mom and daddy are going
305. 14:49to be right here waiting on you when you
306. 14:51get
307. 14:54home I love you so much
308. 15:00I want to I want to uh tell a
309. 15:03[Music]
310. 15:07story the night that this
311. 15:12happened before I left my house that
312. 15:14[Music]
313. 15:20night Michael there something that he's
314. 15:23never done before
315. 15:28[Music]
316. 15:31he had his pooper in his
317. 15:33mouth and he came up to me and he took
318. 15:35his pooper
319. 15:39out he put his arms around me and he
320. 15:43told me I love you so much
321. 15:48Mama and he he's always told me he love
322. 15:51me but never before
323. 15:54that not without me telling him first
324. 15:57and that was just I holding on to that
325. 16:00so much
326. 16:02because it just means so
327. 16:10much I love them I I I just can't
328. 16:13express enough I I have been to the Lord
329. 16:16in prayers every day with my family and
330. 16:19by myself with my
331. 16:22husband it just seems so unfair that
332. 16:25somebody could take such two beautiful
333. 16:27children
334. 16:29and I I don't
335. 16:33understand I I have
336. 16:36put all my trust and faith in the Lord
337. 16:39that he's taking care of them that he
338. 16:42will bring them home to
339. 16:43[Music]
340. 16:47us at this point based on what happened
341. 16:50last night you know anything better
342. 16:53about it now than you did last night
343. 16:57no I mean they I mean they've got people
344. 17:00everywhere looking for them I mean you
345. 17:02know you can hear the helicopters up
346. 17:03there and um but they they haven't seen
347. 17:06anything and it's just it's crazy I I
348. 17:09just and it's been since 9:00 last night
349. 17:12you know and and I really thought that
350. 17:15when it got daylight they would find
351. 17:16them just in a harbe
352. 17:19but was there anything about the
353. 17:21demeanor of the
354. 17:22man that that gives you
355. 17:26concern No in fact um when he made me
356. 17:29get out of the car I you know I tried to
357. 17:31get my children I you know just beged
358. 17:33them please let me take them and he said
359. 17:34no he didn't have time because they were
360. 17:36in car seats and it was going to take
361. 17:37time for me to get him out the car seat
362. 17:39and um he just told me he said but I
363. 17:41won't hurt him and he just took off but
364. 17:44he had a gun
365. 17:45and my my big thing is they were
366. 17:49screaming holler and crying and I'm just
367. 17:52scared that he just lost his patience or
368. 17:54something you know I don't I don't know
369. 17:57I all I'm doing is just praying and
370. 18:01just keeping my faith that they're gonna
371. 18:04be okay you've never seen this guy
372. 18:06before no
373. 18:08sir never and he just came out of the
374. 18:11blue I was stopped at the red light and
375. 18:14um I was looking this way looking toward
376. 18:17the left and it was just like just in a
377. 18:19second he was in my car it just happed
378. 18:21in the car door and I just scream I said
379. 18:23what are you doing he just shut up and
380. 18:24drive and he had a gun and he was poking
381. 18:27it in my side you know told me to drive
382. 18:30and so I drove and I was trying to ask
383. 18:33him one time you know why why what do
384. 18:35you want you know police just you know
385. 18:37don't hurt me or children he
386. 18:39said and and and he never said anything
387. 18:42all he ever told me was shut up or I'll
388. 18:43kill you he said don't say anything else
389. 18:45and my children were crying and I was
390. 18:47trying to tell them you know it was okay
391. 18:49that you know don't worry and he would
392. 18:51you know and he let me talk to them and
393. 18:54then we just got maybe 3 or four miles
394. 18:56down the road and he told me he said I
395. 18:57want you to stop and I said stop right
396. 19:00here he said yeah stop right here it was
397. 19:02just in the middle of the road I mean
398. 19:03you know and I stopped and um he told me
399. 19:07to get out and I was in the driver's
400. 19:09side he was in the passenger side and so
401. 19:11as I I opened the door I said I'm going
402. 19:14to get my children for I he said no you
403. 19:16can't he said I don't have time for that
404. 19:18you know he just and sort of pushed me
405. 19:21on out the door help me get on out the
406. 19:23door and door took off and I ran to the
407. 19:26closest house that I could and
408. 19:29I'm really
409. 19:30[Music]
410. 19:36sorry Tommy Pope the lead prosecutor on
411. 19:39the case tells a story about asking the
412. 19:42media for the raw footage of one of the
413. 19:45interviews Wells was Sheriff at the time
414. 19:49his deputies worked with sled agents as
415. 19:51well as City
416. 19:52police and missing persons groups such
417. 19:55as the Adam Walsh Foundation she wasted
418. 19:59a lot of resources by telling the lies
419. 20:01she told and sled if you're not familiar
420. 20:05is South Carolina law
421. 20:08enforcement Division I think we heard a
422. 20:11lot about sled in the um Alex Murdock
423. 20:15case everyone helped search and they
424. 20:18searched with everything they had
425. 20:19four-wheelers side by sides horses afro
426. 20:22vehicles and any kind of vehicle that
427. 20:24had a composite sketch was made of the
428. 20:26suspect a black man with wearing a
429. 20:29tobogan it was extremely generic it was
430. 20:32circulated to police departments all
431. 20:34over the country black men were afraid
432. 20:37to go out especially afraid to go
433. 20:39hunting cuz it was in October so it was
434. 20:41hunting season no black man wanted to be
435. 20:44seen with a gun of any kind it caused
436. 20:48racial tensions in the small southern
437. 20:50town women with small children were
438. 20:52terrified people that never locked their
439. 20:55doors were now locking up everything and
440. 20:58and terrified that something similar
441. 21:01would happen to their family 7th both
442. 21:03David and Susan took polygraph tests
443. 21:07David passed his but Susan's was
444. 21:11inconclusive so they asked her to take
445. 21:14another one but it was also
446. 21:16inconclusive by the 29th of October the
447. 21:20police were starting to doubt Susan's
448. 21:22story but they didn't tell David that he
449. 21:24had no idea that she was a suspect none
450. 21:29on November 2nd Susan and David went on
451. 21:33national TV with a plea for their boys
452. 21:36to be
453. 21:38found I do understand uh why they're
454. 21:41having to do what they're doing um I'm
455. 21:44all they have U right now they have not
456. 21:46been able to rule anyone out I don't
457. 21:48think I'm any more of a suspect than
458. 21:51anyone in this case right now it's very
459. 21:54painful to know that anyone would think
460. 21:58that I NE of us had anything to do with
461. 22:00this adduction of our children but me
462. 22:03and my wife know the
463. 22:07truth sled investigator Peter Logan had
464. 22:10been interviewing Susan over the nine
465. 22:13days hoping for a breakthrough now he
466. 22:16said other investigators had pushed her
467. 22:18a little too
468. 22:21hard and at that point she would get up
469. 22:24and just leave the room so he had been
470. 22:27kind of playing softball with her
471. 22:30just talking to her and not not acting
472. 22:34like he was accusing her of anything
473. 22:37just pulling stuff out of
474. 22:40her and she kept saying the same thing
475. 22:45the
476. 22:46intersection where she was hijacked she
477. 22:50was stopped at a red light there were no
478. 22:52Witnesses and nobody else was
479. 22:55there before this gets any darker I want
480. 22:57to tell you a story
481. 23:01my dad was a highway
482. 23:03patrolman
483. 23:05and I don't
484. 23:07know a lot about traffic lights but I
485. 23:10know that there are some that are on a
486. 23:12timer and there are some that there
487. 23:14sensors in the road
488. 23:17for
489. 23:21and my dad would tell
490. 23:24me sometimes like we would be at an
491. 23:26intersection when I was learning to
492. 23:28drive like I have my Learners permit
493. 23:29he'd be in the car with me I'd be
494. 23:31learning to drive and we'd be at a light
495. 23:33and it wouldn't change and it wouldn't
496. 23:35change but there'd be no other cars
497. 23:36around he would tell me to back up and
498. 23:40then go forward again and I would
499. 23:43reactivate the sensor in the road and it
500. 23:46would make the light change and then I
501. 23:47could
502. 23:49go
503. 23:51so fast
504. 23:54forward teaching my niece to drive
505. 24:00her mom calls me one
506. 24:02day she's now I guess she has yeah did
507. 24:06she have her she might not even had her
508. 24:07LIC license yet when this happened cuz I
509. 24:10think her grandmother sometime would be
510. 24:12like go to the store and get me such and
511. 24:15such before she had her
512. 24:17license she's an adult she's she's this
513. 24:19is years and years ago she's grown up
514. 24:21now but so one day her mom calls me and
515. 24:23she goes I got to go to court with Kelly
516. 24:25I was
517. 24:27like why what
518. 24:30happened she goes uh she had a police
519. 24:34car I was like
520. 24:37what yeah she was stopped at a light and
521. 24:41she backed into him I was like oh my god
522. 24:45did she back into him because you told
523. 24:48her
524. 24:51to I said no I didn't tell her to back
525. 24:56up if there's another car there
526. 25:07oops I said girl no you're only supposed
527. 25:12to back up if there's no other cars
528. 25:14there use some common
529. 25:18sense so anyway that's how they broke
530. 25:22this case a maintenance
531. 25:24man for the town pointed out to the sled
532. 25:31investigator that at that
533. 25:34particular
534. 25:38intersection unless there's another car
535. 25:41stopped at that
536. 25:43intersection the light will not turn red
537. 25:46because that intersection had the
538. 25:49sensors in in the ground for the
539. 25:53cars so Susan Smith
540. 25:57said that
541. 26:00that she was stopped at a red light when
542. 26:04the black man jumped in her car and
543. 26:08there were no Witnesses cuz there were
544. 26:10no other cars
545. 26:11around but that was
546. 26:15impossible because the only way that red
547. 26:18light that stoplight would have been red
548. 26:20would have been if there was another car
549. 26:22in the
550. 26:24intersection so what
551. 26:28Peter Logan
552. 26:30did was
553. 26:33he talked to
554. 26:36Susan and he didn't want
555. 26:39to press her he didn't want to Hardball
556. 26:42her like other ones had done in the past
557. 26:45and made her you know get up and leave
558. 26:47the room in a huff he he said are you
559. 26:51really sure that's the intersection
560. 26:54where it happened are you absolutely
561. 26:57positive why why don't you just go home
562. 26:59and think about it what just go home
563. 27:02just go home and think about it ju you
564. 27:05know just make sure just make sure
565. 27:08that's exactly where it happened
566. 27:11so she went home and she came back the
567. 27:15next day and she signed a full con a
568. 27:18full written confession she signed a
569. 27:20full confession and that evening the
570. 27:24Department of Natural Resources
571. 27:26recovered the car with bod's boys from
572. 27:29John D long
573. 27:31Lake it had been
574. 27:33122 ft from Shore and they had
575. 27:36previously searched but they only
576. 27:39searched 30 ft from Shore because some
577. 27:42reason they thought that if the boys
578. 27:45were in the lake they would be closer to
579. 27:46the shore I don't know why they thought
580. 27:48that I guess they thought that the guy
581. 27:50would have kept the car and
582. 27:55then maybe
583. 28:00just thrown the boys in the lake so they
584. 28:04would have been closer to shore I'm not
585. 28:06exactly sure what the reasoning was on
586. 28:08that but they thought that the boys
587. 28:11would have been closer to the
588. 28:15shore so they found the car and they
589. 28:18found the boys and on November 4th of
590. 28:231994 Susan Smith was charged with two
591. 28:26counts of murder and no one bothered to
592. 28:30tell David no one no one gave him a
593. 28:34heads up nobody from sled called him
594. 28:36nobody from the prosecutor's office
595. 28:38called him no the sheriff didn't call
596. 28:41him no one David found out by hearing it
597. 28:44on the news just like the rest of the
598. 28:46nation did he heard the sheriff's press
599. 28:52conference we're going to make a brief
600. 28:54announcement
601. 28:58there will be no question answered after
602. 29:00the statement the statement is
603. 29:06it Susan Smith Alexander 14 months the
604. 29:11vehicle a 1990 Mazda driven by Smith was
605. 29:15located late Thursday afternoon in Lake
606. 29:19John D long near
607. 29:21Union two bodies were found in the
608. 29:23vehicle's back seat identities are
609. 29:26pending an autopsy
610. 29:29charges against Smith will be signed by
611. 29:32Union County Sheriff Howard
612. 29:34Wells 16th circuit solicitor Thomas Pope
613. 29:38said Thursday a bond hearing will be
614. 29:40held at 10:00 a.m. at the Moss Justice
615. 29:43Center in York before Circuit Judge
616. 29:45Henry Floyd Smith is incarcerated at an
617. 29:49undisclosed location did she confess did
618. 29:51she tell you where the car was
619. 29:53Sheriff you have been listening to
620. 29:55sheriff Howard Wells giving us a
621. 29:57statement
622. 29:59the boys were buried together in one
623. 30:01casket on November 6th
624. 30:041994 at the banville United Methodist
625. 30:08Church
626. 30:10Cemetery Tommy Pope the lead I love this
627. 30:13man every interview I've ever seen with
628. 30:15him he
629. 30:16just I don't know he's just charismatic
630. 30:20or something he just I wish I could have
631. 30:22watch the trial but it was not
632. 30:24televised Tommy Pope the lead prosecutor
633. 30:27announced in January of 1995 that he
634. 30:30would be sinking the death
635. 30:32penalty after speaking with David and
636. 30:34getting his approval he told the press
637. 30:37that if it had been the fictitious black
638. 30:39man or the father of the children people
639. 30:42would want him to ask for the death
640. 30:43penalty so why not ask the same for
641. 30:46her jury selection started on July 10th
642. 30:491995 with nine men and three women being
643. 30:54selected that's the final count I don't
644. 30:56know about the alternate didn't say in
645. 30:59my
646. 31:00research and no cameras were allowed in
647. 31:03the courtroom there's a lot of pretty
648. 31:04sketches though if you guys want to look
649. 31:06them up I don't think I screenshotted
650. 31:10any of them but the guilt phase
651. 31:13started on July 18th
652. 31:171995 angry crowds Lin the street around
653. 31:20the courthouse Scotty vaugh Susan's
654. 31:23brother made a public apology to the
655. 31:25black
656. 31:26community Susan suan Smith became the
657. 31:29most hated mother in
658. 31:32America Tommy Pope said that she killed
659. 31:35her kids to be with her lover who didn't
660. 31:37want any kids Susan was represented by
661. 31:41David Brooke and Judy Clark does she
662. 31:44remind you guys of someone is it just
663. 31:47me
664. 31:50no they said she was not in her right
665. 31:53mind at the time Clark told the jury
666. 31:57this is not a case about evil this is a
667. 32:01case about Despair and
668. 32:07sadness so sad that those boys will
669. 32:10never live a life that's all that's sad
670. 32:13about this case they even argued that it
671. 32:16was an attempt on her own life as well
672. 32:19but somehow her body just wed itself out
673. 32:21of the
674. 32:23car however she wasn't wet that night at
675. 32:27all
676. 32:29and when the car was recovered in the
677. 32:32trunk they found her wedding album her
678. 32:34wedding dress and other things from her
679. 32:37life with David like if she could have
680. 32:39put David in the car too she probably
681. 32:41would have it was like she just
682. 32:43wanted everything from her former life
683. 32:46with David just gone it's like she
684. 32:48wanted a do over she wanted to get rid
685. 32:51of everything and just have a
686. 32:54doover it's called divorce woman geez
687. 33:00her ex-husband David believes that the
688. 33:03reason she couldn't just leave the voice
689. 33:05with him and then just go live a life
690. 33:08away from them was because it would make
691. 33:11her look like a bad mother and a bad
692. 33:13person and she couldn't have
693. 33:16that the defense psychiatrist diagnosed
694. 33:19her with dependent personality disorder
695. 33:24and major
696. 33:26depression now we've heard a lot about
697. 33:29personality disorders over the years
698. 33:31from the trials we've watched dpd is not
699. 33:34one that we've heard about a lot so I
700. 33:36looked it up it's a psychological
701. 33:39dependence on another
702. 33:41person the symptoms are extreme
703. 33:46passivity Devastation or helplessness
704. 33:49when relationships
705. 33:52end avoidance of responsibilities and
706. 33:55severe submission
707. 33:59so Devastation or helplessness she tried
708. 34:02to unive
709. 34:05herself after the married man broke up
710. 34:08with her after high
711. 34:11school
712. 34:12she unived her kids after the other guy
713. 34:17broke up with her avoidance of
714. 34:20responsibilities yeah get rid of her
715. 34:22kids so she didn't have that
716. 34:23responsibility anymore so yeah I think
717. 34:27those fit
718. 34:28I mean that's the ultimate avoidance of
719. 34:32responsibilities the
720. 34:35ultimate on July 22nd
721. 34:391995 after 2 and a half hour
722. 34:43deliberation the jury found Susan Smith
723. 34:47guilty the penalty phase started on July
724. 34:5024th and David Smith testified for the
725. 34:54prosecution at one point in his
726. 34:56testimony David broke down crying so
727. 34:59hard on the stand that the court had to
728. 35:00take a 5-minute break so dve the jury
729. 35:03came back with a decision of a life
730. 35:05sentence on July
731. 35:0728th unfortunately what they weren't
732. 35:11allowed to know by law in South Carolina
733. 35:16was that life doesn't really mean life
734. 35:19at the time I think it's different now
735. 35:21but at the time in South
736. 35:25Carolina life meant 30 years after 30
737. 35:28years you get the possibility of parole
738. 35:31so they didn't know this they wanted her
739. 35:34to sit in jail for the rest of her life
740. 35:37and think about Michael and
741. 35:39Alex they didn't know that she would be
742. 35:41up for parole after 30 years they were
743. 35:43not allowed by law to know that and I
744. 35:47think that's pretty crappy if you ask
745. 35:50me because they thought they were doing
746. 35:52the right thing I really wonder if they
747. 35:56had known there was a possibility of her
748. 35:59getting out I mean she's my age now
749. 36:03she's my age now I don't consider that
750. 36:06old some of you might consider that old
751. 36:08I don't consider that old I say all the
752. 36:11time I'm old but to me old is 80 you
753. 36:15know I don't consider this old my body
754. 36:18feels old lots of times lots of times my
755. 36:22body makes me feel
756. 36:24old but no I mean she's got another 30
757. 36:29years
758. 36:32left you know maybe
759. 36:35probably
760. 36:37no and I really
761. 36:40wonder if they had known
762. 36:43that would they have given her life or
763. 36:46would they have given her the death
764. 36:47penalty Susan went to Camille Griffin
765. 36:50Graham correctional institute where she
766. 36:52got in trouble a few years after her
767. 36:54arrival shock
768. 36:58she got in trouble for weed and
769. 37:00opiates and in 2000 bigger shocker she
770. 37:04got in trouble for sleeping with a
771. 37:06couple of the
772. 37:07guards which is
773. 37:10illegal she thought if she slept with
774. 37:13them she could get
775. 37:15favors that
776. 37:17backfired in South Carolina that is
777. 37:20illegal for a correctional officer to
778. 37:23have sexual relations with an inmate it
779. 37:26is a felony punishable by imprisonment
780. 37:30of no more than 10
781. 37:33years so Lieutenant Houston Kagel served
782. 37:38three months for his escapades with
783. 37:41Susan while Captain Alfred row was fired
784. 37:45and put on
785. 37:47probation now I'm assuming that Alfred
786. 37:52row got some kind of a deal because it
787. 37:54says punishable
788. 37:58by imprisonment of no more than 10 years
789. 38:00and he didn't get imprisonment he got
790. 38:03probation and I canot find a picture of
791. 38:05Houston Kagel but Alfred row is all over
792. 38:08the place he's done interviews he's been
793. 38:11on TV he's
794. 38:13everywhere
795. 38:15so I don't know if he's proud of it or
796. 38:21what so then she was transferred
797. 38:25to Le directional Institute in Greenwood
798. 38:30South
799. 38:32Carolina where big shocker again she got
800. 38:36in trouble just recently like this year
801. 38:40just recently which is stupid if you
802. 38:43know you're up for
803. 38:47parole
804. 38:49right so she's not allowed to profit
805. 38:52from her crimes nor is she allowed to do
806. 38:55interviews with press or media without
807. 38:57the Correctional Facilities knowledge
808. 38:58and approval and that is to protect the
809. 39:03facility so that inmates can't be
810. 39:06telling tales that aren't true about the
811. 39:08facility or the guards or whatever you
812. 39:12know so
813. 39:14Susan I guess thinking she'd be out of
814. 39:16prison soon so she decided in all of her
815. 39:20reasonable judgment that she should set
816. 39:22up an interview with a documentarian
817. 39:28she talked to this person by
818. 39:31phone and this person put money in her
819. 39:34account at the prison and she gave this
820. 39:37person in exchange for this interview
821. 39:39and this
822. 39:41money contact information for friends
823. 39:45family even for her
824. 39:47ex-husband which he's moved on he's
825. 39:49gotten married he has an adult daughter
826. 39:51now that's 23 how she knew his contact
827. 39:54information is beyond me but but the
828. 39:57things I read said that she gave this
829. 40:00reporter David's contact information as
830. 40:03well and I imagine if that reporter
831. 40:07contacted David he was livid I know I
832. 40:10would have been if I had been in his
833. 40:13shoes and she told the Paro she told the
834. 40:17parole board during the parole
835. 40:21hearing made
836. 40:23excuses she said she thought it was the
837. 40:26documentary about
838. 40:27mental health now even if it
839. 40:31was she wasn't allowed to do
840. 40:34it that's not an
841. 40:38excuse she goes up in front of the Paro
842. 40:40board and says oh but I didn't know it
843. 40:43was about me I thought it was about
844. 40:44mental health it doesn't matter you're
845. 40:47not allowed to do it anyway doesn't
846. 40:48matter what you thought it was
847. 40:53about and she says
848. 40:57she is fighting that disciplinary action
849. 41:00on her
850. 41:03record it is so clear to me that she
851. 41:07still cannot take responsibility for her
852. 41:11actions so if she can't follow the
853. 41:15rules
854. 41:17in a
855. 41:20rigid Community like they have impr
856. 41:25prison how is she going to follow the
857. 41:28rules on the
858. 41:34outside this is an excerpt from a letter
859. 41:36she wrote in
860. 41:392004 I don't know who she wrote it to
861. 41:42but she wrote this in 2004 the thing
862. 41:45that hurts me the most is that people
863. 41:47think I hurt my children in order to be
864. 41:49with a man that is so far from the truth
865. 41:53there was no motive as it was not even a
866. 41:56planned event
867. 41:57I was not in my right
868. 42:01mind as for why she lied about what
869. 42:04happened Smith wrote I didn't know how
870. 42:07to tell the people who loved Michael and
871. 42:10Alex that they would never see them
872. 42:12again I didn't want to hurt them you
873. 42:15didn't want to get
874. 42:17arrested that's what you didn't want to
875. 42:21happen on November 20th
876. 42:252024 Susan Smith and attorney Tom Tommy
877. 42:28Thomas came before the parole board to
878. 42:31ask for her release they both appeared
879. 42:33via
880. 42:35Zoom first of all I want to say how very
881. 42:40sorry I am
882. 42:55um it's okay so
883. 42:58just
884. 43:00just just talk with
885. 43:08us I know that what I did was
886. 43:16[Music]
887. 43:23horrible and I don't give anything if I
888. 43:25can go back and change it
889. 43:29and I love Michael and Alice with all my
890. 43:33[Music]
891. 43:40heart impersonate that hearing asking
892. 43:44the parole board to deny parole was
893. 43:46Tommy Pope and Kevin bracket who
894. 43:49prosecuted the case David Smith his wife
895. 43:52and daughter along with other people
896. 43:53that worked on the case as well as
897. 43:55family and friends both Tommy Pope and
898. 43:58Kevin bracket spoke about Susan's
899. 44:00motivations then and now David's
900. 44:03daughter talked about the brother she
901. 44:05never knew David's sister talked about
902. 44:08the nephews that she loved and cherished
903. 44:10and that will never get to grow up and
904. 44:12have a family of their own David talked
905. 44:15about Susan's selfishness and his tragic
906. 44:18loss now they have to come back and do
907. 44:20this every two years for the rest of
908. 44:22Susan's life David's daughter is 23
909. 44:26years old if by some weird circumstance
910. 44:29Susan was to outlive everyone connect
911. 44:32connected with this case Michael and
912. 44:34Alex's little sister will be here to
913. 44:36oppose Susan Smith ever getting out of
914. 44:40prison okay guys so that's it for Susan
915. 44:43Smith remember be kind to people love
916. 44:46your family and Jesus loves you and
917. 44:49happy holidays and I will see you in the
918. 44:52next one bye guys
919. 44:56[Music]
920. 44:59[Applause]
921. 45:01[Music]