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Susan Smith: Nice Girl Gone Bad! — Transcript

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0:011993's case of susan smith's
0:04alleged or now convicted drowning of
0:06michael and alex smith her two baby sons
0:10was infamous it's something that haunted
0:12me even as a senior in high school
0:14and for that reason i have decided to
0:16recut and re-edit my original video
0:19about this case
0:20so let's delve into what happened to a
0:22supposed nice girl
0:24and why she was told nice girls don't
0:27sleep with married men
0:28let's dive in the case of susan smith
0:32[Music]
0:35keto and crime
0:38keto and crime
0:41we uncover the
0:42crime on keto and crime
0:47keto and crime
0:50keto and crime
0:54now is the time
0:56for keto and crime
0:58[Music]
1:08[Music]
1:09[Applause]
1:14hey everyone
1:16keto comic here sunday bloody sunday
1:18with uh another one
1:20that kind of hits home for me because i
1:23remember this case from
1:25around my senior year of high school to
1:27my first year of college second year
1:29college is when this was kind of going
1:31on so
1:33i
1:34i remember this and i remember being
1:36very torn up by it so
1:38i thought i would do it the this the
1:40last one on the needles this one and the
1:42next
1:44uh one on audrey marie healy are
1:46three that i remember
1:48because i grew up in the area
1:51so
1:52those i wanted to start out my sunday
1:54bloody sunday with three that
1:56kind of resonates with me after that i
1:58will branch out and do some other ones i
2:00promise it's not all about me it's all
2:01about you but i think you'll still enjoy
2:03these cases um
2:05today we're doing the case of susan
2:07smith occurred 1994
2:11union south carolina
2:13uh it's
2:14the case of a mom killing her children
2:17and the way this one went down makes it
2:19uh
2:20very interesting so let's get into it
2:23and
2:24i've titled this one nice girls don't
2:26sleep
2:27with married men and we'll
2:30we'll learn what that what happened with
2:31that a little bit later on but
2:33let's get into it
2:36susan smith was born susan vaughn
2:40september 26 1971
2:43in union south carolina union is an
2:45incredibly small town out in the rural
2:48south of south carolina
2:50about 20 miles from columbia south
2:53carolina which is about
2:55an hour from charleston if you can
2:57understand the
3:00the proximity of that it's very much in
3:01the carolina low country so it's very
3:04very rural very small reminds me a lot
3:06of my little small town you know we had
3:08population of less than five thousand
3:11its main source of income was factories
3:14just like mine
3:15my small town mainly textile mills and
3:18the reason that i'm mentioning that is
3:20that a key player in this
3:22came from a very prominent family that
3:24essentially saved their small town and
3:26their whole county
3:27basically it was a textile mill area and
3:29just like happened with my area the
3:31textile mill shut down and went overseas
3:33to get cheaper product so a lot of
3:36people were left out of a job and in
3:39the interim a very wealthy family very
3:41wealthy industrious the industrialist
3:43and philanthropist named j kerry finley
3:47basically started a new factory called
3:51cosno
3:52which actually made decorative trimming
3:54and pieces you know some of that stuff's
3:55used in the white house and buckingham
3:57palace just making very fancy
3:59decorations he bought some of the
4:01textile mills retooled them and started
4:04conso
4:05and conso basically saved
4:08and reinvigorated the county the entire
4:11union county area so and the finley's
4:14will come very highly playing into this
4:16story so i wanted to mention that that
4:19that's how deep this case ran
4:22but their main character
4:25person
4:26susan
4:27lee smith was born susan levon
4:29in 1971 she was the daughter of harry
4:32ray
4:33and linda sue vaughn formerly harrison
4:36uh she had three older brothers it was
4:39kind of a contentious marriage because
4:41linda
4:42from all accounts was the type that
4:45liked money she liked to spend she liked
4:48to have wealth and prestige and harry
4:50was very much a blue collar kind of guy
4:53he loved his family he was very good to
4:54his family he tried and worked as hard
4:56as he could to provide the kind of
4:58income and lifestyle that would keep
5:00linda happy
5:02but to no avail they did end up
5:04divorcing
5:05when susan was six years old and susan
5:07was the youngest of their children
5:10uh
5:11two weeks
5:12two weeks after their divorce was final
5:16linda remarried beverly russell who was
5:19a very successful entrepreneur and
5:22businessman in the union area he owned
5:24several businesses
5:26he owned a very large furniture store as
5:29well as some other things and he was
5:31able to provide the kind of lifestyle
5:34that linda sue vaughan wanted now linda
5:36sue russell wanted
5:39she got out of their little modest
5:41three-bedroom house in a blue-collar
5:43neighborhood and got into the most
5:45exclusive subdivision in the union area
5:47taking her children with her
5:49and as a result
5:51i guess harry ray just could not
5:54recover from that and he did end up
5:56shooting himself
5:57and committing suicide
5:59about a month after their divorce
6:02after her marriage was
6:04was the thing he couldn't take it and he
6:06did
6:07commit suicide
6:09i can only imagine the effect that had
6:11on six-year-old susan
6:13in fact
6:14she would try to commit suicide a couple
6:16of times in her own life following her
6:18father's footsteps quite tragically
6:20we'll get into that
6:22but uh her family life was kind of
6:24upheaved she went from
6:26being daddy's little girl to now daddy's
6:28dead and now there's this new guy in my
6:30life saying he's my daddy
6:32so she had kind of a tumultuous
6:34childhood
6:35but eventually she did go on to school
6:37she did go to union high school where
6:39she became a cheerleader
6:41she was very outgoing
6:43she was voted
6:45friendliest female i've never really
6:47heard that designation in a high school
6:49yearbook but she was voted friendly as
6:51female but this was
6:52the deep south in the early 80s
6:55she was voted
6:57friendliest female very outgoing held
7:00down a part-time job which we'll talk
7:02about and was just generally considered
7:05a good teenager she did try to commit
7:07suicide at the age of 13 though
7:10uh after a fight with her mom she did
7:13ingest
7:15uh
7:16aspirin and tylenol an attempt to take
7:18her own life did not work she was put in
7:20the hospital
7:22and
7:24came back out of it and then went on to
7:25be pretty successful in high school
7:27around the age of 16 though everyone
7:29noticed kind of a change in susan's
7:31demeanor
7:32instead of outgoing she became very
7:34quiet and reserved and it was very
7:38simply because
7:40old bev
7:41was doing some things he shouldn't do
7:43beverly russell started having sexual
7:45relations with susan when she was 16
7:48years old
7:49so as a result she again attempted
7:52suicide
7:54and
7:55did tell her mother what was going on
7:58and as a result beverly the stepfather
8:00moved out of the house for a while
8:03she told her school counselor she went
8:04to the police
8:06linda refused to press charges and the
8:09family kind of came to extended family
8:11kind of came down on susan you're going
8:12to ruin the family you're going to ruin
8:14this man's life
8:15nothing's wrong you didn't get pregnant
8:18i mean it was bizarre these are
8:21actual accounts you can look up and
8:23basically susan was told not to press
8:25charges just to slide it under the rug
8:28like we do in the good old south we
8:30cover up our demons instead of dealing
8:32with them
8:33and
8:34beverly was back in the house within
8:37six months and it continued but susan
8:41because of the former
8:43way she was treated
8:45never
8:46didn't say anything she attempted to go
8:48to her school counselor once
8:50her mother was called again she was told
8:52please don't press charges
8:54and it was swept under the rug so
8:56imagine a family dynamic where you know
8:59the stepfather is sleeping with the
9:01teenage stepdaughter
9:03the mom knows it and does nothing she is
9:06more concerned about living a wealthy
9:09comfortable lifestyle than protecting
9:12her daughter
9:14i mean i don't know what was going
9:15through
9:16linda russell's head but
9:20if he had touched my daughter they
9:21wouldn't have to worry about prosecuting
9:23because i'd not only cut his thing off i
9:25would have dealt with him myself so
9:27yeah i don't understand this but as a
9:30result
9:31susan changed
9:33she became very sexually promiscuous
9:36with me with several boys in high school
9:39she was uh sleeping around high school
9:42she also started a job at winn-dixie in
9:451988 when dick sees a chain of southern
9:47grocery stores known for their beef and
9:50ironically
9:51and
9:53she started an affair with an older
9:55assistant manager there so her boss
9:59she was sleeping with her older married
10:00boss which led to some
10:02confrontations with her and his wife at
10:06the store
10:07and her co-workers were witness to this
10:09lots of people in the town were witness
10:11to this so
10:12in the year of 1988 to 1989 she was
10:15essentially sleeping
10:17with several different men this her
10:19stepfather
10:20boys in high school and this older
10:23married man who the general manager of
10:25the store as we do in the old south
10:27instead of actually dealing with the
10:29fact that this grown man is having sex
10:31with a 17 year old
10:33decided to just transfer him to another
10:35store and that fixed it didn't it
10:38so as a result
10:41of this guy being transferred out she
10:42again susan smith
10:44or susan bond at the time attempted to
10:46commit suicide one last time
10:49she was in the hospital for several
10:52months and came back
10:53her lover's gone
10:56and she kind of
10:57tries to pick up a normal life she was
10:59very good at her job from all accounts
11:01very industrious young lady she worked
11:03her way up from part-time cashier to
11:05bookkeeper where she was actually in the
11:06office assisting the manager with the
11:08books
11:09and essentially had a bright future
11:13but she tended to allow
11:16members of the opposite sex to use her
11:18that's where she found herself worth
11:19herself were
11:21tended to be tied up
11:22around those that loved her namely of
11:25the opposite sex if they were having sex
11:27with her she was valuable that
11:30a lot of psychological profiles revealed
11:31that's where her mentality was tied now
11:34am i saying that it's an excuse for
11:36doing what she did absolutely not i just
11:38want you to give
11:39have all the facts related to this case
11:42and it was shortly after
11:46her older married lover was transferred
11:48away that she began dating a
11:50man much closer to her own age
11:52there in the store also an assistant
11:55manager
11:57david smith
11:59had worked his way up from part-time
12:00stock boy to full assistant manager at
12:02winn-dixie over the last six years he
12:05also put himself through high school
12:08and
12:09actually lived with his
12:10great-grandmother and older brother
12:13uh outs on the outskirts of union in a
12:15very small farmhouse now david had kind
12:18of a tumultuous childhood himself i
12:20couldn't find a whole lot on his
12:21background i did read the book that he
12:22co-wrote called beyond all reason on
12:26this case and so that's where i got a
12:27lot of this information but he
12:30his family were transplants they weren't
12:32original they weren't even southerners
12:33they were
12:35they came from
12:36the northern part of the united states
12:38his father was kind of a hippie
12:40hippie-ish david smith senior was kind
12:42of a hippie
12:43uh he started out working uh doing odd
12:46jobs and then eventually found
12:48employment in a factory and also ran a
12:50cleaning business so david would help
12:53him and his older brother danny would
12:55help their father with this cleaning
12:56business because their mother like
12:59susan's mother was a bit of a bad
13:01situation with the family uh
13:05uh david's
13:07mother
13:08became a jehovah's witness
13:10about the time they moved to union and
13:12so they never had birthdays or holidays
13:16they were
13:17forced to go on a
13:19religious outreach and missionary work
13:21and
13:22to all accounts
13:23in his own words they hated it so he and
13:26his brother danny who also suffered from
13:29chronic crohn's disease and would later
13:31die very young from it put a lot of
13:34strain on the family and so they would
13:36go out and help their father who's
13:38basically worked to stay away from the
13:40household and eventually
13:42his parents divorced
13:43and his father moved away well
13:46david was a young hormonal teenager that
13:49wanted to date girls and go to have
13:51birthday parties and go to pep rallies
13:53and things like that that didn't sit
13:55while what the very strictly jehovah's
13:57witness religious mother
13:59that he had
14:01so he ended up moving
14:03and with his great-grandmother
14:05affectionately called moner
14:08about a mile down the road from his
14:09mother's house with his brother danny so
14:12they he lived with his
14:15with his brother and great-grandmother
14:16at the time he started work at winn
14:18dixie
14:20he was already engaged to another high
14:22school student when he met susan and
14:25actually started dating her eventually
14:27he would break up with this girl but he
14:28had already bought a small house on his
14:31great-grandmother's property and was
14:33fixing that up for them after they got
14:35married and then he started dating
14:38susan
14:39and
14:41as the book his own words
14:44says they he thought it was a casual
14:46thing his his other uh girlfriend wasn't
14:49as sexually open as susan susan would do
14:52some wild and freaky things sexually in
14:54david's word so he was into that he was
14:56drummed to that and he really thought it
14:58was more of a casual
15:00thing he didn't expect to marry susan he
15:02didn't expect to be with susan long term
15:05but
15:06one thing led to another and in 1991
15:08susan was pregnant
15:11now bear in mind she is still sleeping
15:13with both her stepfather
15:15and other men as far as david knew but
15:18he never once questioned
15:20that the baby was was his so
15:23they went and told her parents his
15:25grandmother and they married in 1991 and
15:29moved in with his great-grandmother now
15:32five days before their wedding
15:35uh danny
15:37david's older brother died of his
15:39crohn's disease so there was a huge like
15:41black cloud over their wedding from the
15:43very start of their marriage from the
15:45very start
15:46and moving in with a parent or a
15:49grandparent when you're a new couple
15:51isn't healthy for anybody and the reason
15:53i bet you're asking why didn't they just
15:54move into that house he had already
15:55bought and fixed up well
15:57neither susan nor her mother thought it
16:00was an adequate house for them it was
16:02just a plain strip board
16:04a little farmhouse
16:06wasn't fancy but it had electricity it
16:08had running water it had
16:10heating and air conditioning but it
16:12wasn't good enough for either of the von
16:14ladies so they ended up moving in with
16:16his grandmother
16:21seven months after their marriage
16:23their two boys michael other oldest boy
16:26michael was born in 1991 to be followed
16:29by alex
16:30in 1992
16:34but don't be fooled into thinking it was
16:36a happy ozzie and harriet type situation
16:38absolutely not susan continued her ways
16:41of cheating around with other men david
16:43had a couple of affairs it they
16:45separated several times and got back
16:47together it was
16:49not a good relationship they did
16:52buy a small house in a small
16:54working-class
16:56suburb of union with help from the
16:59wrestles they gave them the down payment
17:01for that house and they were able to buy
17:04a house that the
17:05bond women thought was more appropriate
17:08and were able to move out on their own
17:10but the financial struggles and other
17:13things from that led to a lot of fights
17:15a lot of
17:17um
17:19a lot of turmoil and in fact david said
17:22he did question young alex
17:25uh
17:26parentage when he was born because they
17:28had been on and off for so long but the
17:31minute he said he was born he loved him
17:33and never once
17:35faltered from being his father so david
17:37smith's a good man
17:39no matter
17:40what anyone says he's a good man there
17:41was issues on both sides well
17:44remember i was talking about conso
17:46earlier the factory that saved the
17:48entire town of union
17:50well it was about the time that alex was
17:54born that susan quit working at
17:56winn-dixie and quit working in another
17:58textile job she had in the city
18:00and actually got herself hired in the
18:03office of kanso as a bookkeeper and from
18:06there
18:07she worked her way up to be an executive
18:09secretary for jf kerry finley the owner
18:13of creator of conso
18:15and from there proceeded to have an
18:17affair with him
18:18and other men around kanso because in
18:21conso you were literally dealing with
18:23the richest and most prestigious people
18:25in town and like her mother susan was
18:27drawn to that and admired that above
18:31the extent of someone's character it was
18:32all about the size of their bank account
18:34and so she was
18:36exposed to the finer side of life and
18:38she started hanging out with those
18:40people and sort sort of left david
18:42behind and then they eventually
18:44separated again
18:46she
18:47was not only sleeping with jay carey
18:49finley
18:50when they when he ended their affair she
18:53started sleeping with his son tom
18:55findlay
18:56who we will get into
18:58and hanging out with them at a bar in
19:01town called hickory nuts don't laugh yes
19:04that was the name of the bar where all
19:05the console people would congregate
19:07after work so it was just kind of a work
19:10and social situation
19:12so she started hanging out more and more
19:14with these people she really fell for
19:16tom finley thinking that
19:19he was the one he was the one that was
19:21going to save her she was going to move
19:23into the huge
19:24finley estate outside of union and she
19:27was going to have the life that she
19:28deserved but there was a problem
19:33number one
19:34her
19:35past of kind of being a manager for lack
19:39of a better word got to tom's ear
19:41and the fact that she essentially was
19:44caught by him
19:45making out with another married man at
19:48one of his hot tub parties at the finley
19:50estate number two and number three
19:53he found out she had been sleeping with
19:54his daddy before him now i can't think
19:57of anything that will ruin a first date
19:59more than comparing your date to their
20:02parent
20:04yeah okay think about that for a minute
20:07yeah not good so he all of that hit him
20:09at once
20:10and he decided that
20:13that coupled with the fact that he
20:14didn't want children and here this woman
20:17had two children that he didn't want to
20:19raise
20:20this was not for him and so he wrote her
20:23a dear john letter
20:25which she received on october 25th
20:271994
20:29and i'm going to read you an excerpt
20:30from that letter one moment
20:33dear susan first of all i will always
20:35have a genuine affection for you but we
20:37have different we come from different
20:38backgrounds
20:40we're just too different
20:43and even though i think we could be
20:45happy your background
20:48and history with men is preventing me
20:49from actually dedicating myself to you
20:53and there's also one other reason and i
20:55think you know what that is and that is
20:57your children i do nev i never see
20:59myself as a father nor do i want to
21:00raise another man's children even though
21:02i know your children are good children
21:04wouldn't matter how good they are it's
21:06just not for me
21:07and then he goes on here to talk about
21:09her past affairs and him catching her
21:11with another man and he sums it up
21:14with this
21:15susan if you want to catch a nice guy
21:19like me one day you have to act like a
21:21nice girl
21:22and you know nice girls don't sleep with
21:25married men
21:26referring to both his father and the
21:28other married co-worker that he caught
21:30her with and so
21:33susan received that october 25th 1994
21:37and of course was devastated she
21:39attempted to go into finley's office to
21:41talk with him at console he got her out
21:43there as quickly as possible
21:44she got so upset she asked to go home
21:47early
21:48and
21:50did so she went to first of all she
21:53stopped in the concert parking lot and
21:54talked to a friend of hers that was in
21:56the same social circles as
21:58her and tom and said if they go out
22:00tonight which they always did to hickory
22:03nuts to please
22:05let her know if tom talked about her at
22:07all she was literally devastated she
22:09really saw him as her ticket out of
22:11struggle
22:13so she goes to the daycare picks up
22:15michael and alex takes them home feeds
22:17them pizza for dinner
22:19and about 8 p.m
22:22she
22:24decides that a drive would clear her
22:26head so she puts both michael and alex
22:28in her mazda protege
22:30in their car seats in the back seat and
22:33goes for a drive
22:35and this is where
22:36the most terrible part of the story
22:37starts
22:43susan smith would later in court say
22:45that she was living in a veil of sorrow
22:47and tears that night she had made up her
22:50mind to end her own life and didn't want
22:51her boys to be without a mother so she
22:54had fully decided to end all three of
22:56their lives as a result she drove out to
23:00route 90 outside of union to john d long
23:03lake a state a state park out there
23:06and turned into the access road that led
23:08you down to the lake
23:10she stopped halfway down the access road
23:12put on the emergency brake and sat there
23:14for a few minutes
23:17then she edged ever closer to the water
23:20stopping again
23:22all the time michael and alex playing
23:25and laughing
23:26uh michael had a thing where his brother
23:29would do something wrong and michael
23:30would hug him and protect him and say i
23:32don't care what he did he's my brother
23:33and i love him so i can only imagine
23:36the giggling and playing that were going
23:38on in the back seat
23:40but
23:41she let her car start
23:43itching ever closer to the water stopped
23:45right at the edge got out
23:47took off the emergency brake slammed the
23:50door
23:52and left the car with her two children
23:54roll into john d lone lake
23:57she watched it bob around like a cork
23:59for a few minutes
24:01and then it slowly
24:02sank under the water which was very
24:05muddy and very murky because of the the
24:08rain they had that season
24:10and she
24:11essentially drowned
24:13her two boys
24:15and then her herself ran up the access
24:18road to a nearby house off of route 90
24:22and
24:23banged on the door of the family that
24:24was there let her in and she made up a
24:26story that an african-american man
24:29had carjacked her when she stopped at
24:31the red light near john d lone lake and
24:33had taken her two boys
24:36and she asked them to call the police
24:38which they did and i'm going to play
24:40that 9-1-1 call for you now
24:44which way he's
24:47[Music]
24:52a mazda protege what color was it
24:55a burgundy mazda protege
24:58get them going pam they got two kids
25:00okay
25:02that's a black guy she said
25:05black male yes ma'am you know which way
25:08did do you know which way he went
25:10daddy i just know it's what he went
25:12towards
25:17[Music]
25:27chester did he have a gun or a weapon
25:31yeah he's got a gun got a gun
25:34it's the 911 call that the mcleod family
25:37rick mccloud and his family made for
25:39susan smith on the evening of october
25:4125th
25:431994 immediately
25:46sheriff howard wells of union was
25:48dispatched to the house along with some
25:49deputies as well as they called
25:52winn-dixie where her
25:54estranged husband david smith was
25:55working and he found his way up there to
25:58her as well according to david smith
26:00when he walked in susan collapsed on the
26:02floor
26:03in a in a panic he had to lift her up
26:06and carry her into the next room
26:09and howard wells sheriff wells took her
26:11statement and she again repeated the
26:13story that she had been at the traffic
26:15light off monarch mills on route 90 next
26:18to john d long lake she had stopped for
26:20a red light
26:22and an african-american man tall slender
26:26uh wearing a beanie and a dark-colored
26:29hoodie
26:30had stepped up put pointed a gun at her
26:33and told her to get out of the car she
26:35did he got in and drove off but before
26:37she could get her children he was he
26:39screamed at her i'll take care of the
26:41kids
26:42and drove off with her now immediately
26:44how sheriff wells was suspect and in his
26:47own words
26:48and the words of david smith's
26:50father david smith senior said if
26:52someone had tried to take off with my
26:53kids some part of that car would have
26:55still been in my hands so immediately
26:57sheriff wells was suspicious
26:59but he took her word for it
27:01and
27:03called both the fbi because this could
27:05be potentially an allstate's kidnapping
27:08and called sled the south carolina law
27:10enforcement division a highly trained
27:13division of the state police south
27:15carolina that
27:17specializes in investigative crimes
27:19and immediately
27:21dispatched them to union to help about
27:24this time they decided they should leave
27:25and give them a cloud some time to rest
27:27because it had been hours it was now
27:29half way after midnight this had all
27:30happened about 8 pm
27:32remember
27:34so
27:36they decided that they would leave and
27:38go to
27:39the russell's linda's parents house and
27:42stay the night her david her and david
27:44and then the next day they would meet
27:46sheriff wells at the sheriff's office to
27:47give a formal statement
27:50so fast forward to the next day susan
27:52expands on her story instead of just
27:54being that she stopped the traffic light
27:56she went on to the history of the
27:57evening how she left
27:59work early she picked them up she fed
28:01them dinner and then she went for
28:03went to went to out to visit a friend
28:05who turned out not to be at home
28:08and then went to walmart to do some
28:10shopping and then just decided to drive
28:12around the lake to clear her head
28:13because she had had a rough day and
28:15that's when it happened
28:16so that was her story well this became a
28:19media frenzy word of this spread
28:22throughout the country
28:24there were a lot of news stations
28:25national and local news that descended
28:28on union
28:29and this became a nationwide manhunt for
28:32this african-american gentleman
28:34susan gave a very generic composite
28:38to the sketch artist from sled
28:40who basically according to a few
28:42reporters it looked like half of the
28:44population of columbia south carolina
28:47which was the
28:48the closest large city that had a
28:50significant african-american population
28:52union was lily white
28:54which is not unusual for small towns in
28:57the south in the night in the 90s
28:59it's not unusual at all my
29:02my town was very lit lilly wright white
29:04for a long time so it was not unusual
29:07so
29:08eventually that composite was pulled off
29:10the air because it was causing a lot of
29:11racial tension as you can imagine now if
29:13you think racial tension is bad now
29:16think about it we're only 20 years past
29:18the civil rights movement at this point
29:1930 years past the civil rights movement
29:21at this point so it caused a lot of
29:22friction with the local nw acp
29:25so the composite because it wasn't
29:27really distinct it could be any black
29:29man in any city usa it was pulled
29:33off the it was pulled off the air
29:34immediately
29:35and so they decided to concentrate
29:38the search on
29:40her mazda protege
29:43which actually they did receive a call
29:45that a mazda protege fitting her
29:47description description of hers was seen
29:49near charlotte north carolina charlotte
29:51state police north carolina state police
29:53pulled that car over but of course it
29:55turned not to be her mazda because her
29:57mazda was at the bottom of john d long
29:59lake
30:00well this went on
30:03david and susan smith went on national
30:05television they went on
30:07local television always pleading for the
30:10return
30:11of their children and i'm gonna play you
30:12a clip from one of their national tv
30:14appearances one moment
30:17here is a clip from good morning america
30:20in fact it was very special because the
30:22smiths actually went on
30:25all three major morning
30:27news programs simultaneously and so they
30:29did a live feed and this was the
30:31broadcast from
30:33cbs this morning excuse me good morning
30:35america i apologize
30:37and
30:39pled for the return of their children at
30:41this time
30:43law enforcement and some reporters were
30:44already starting to doubt susan smith's
30:47story because it seemed to change every
30:49time they interrogated her and they
30:50interrogated her daily sometimes twice
30:52daily so of course
30:54her story if you make up a lie
30:56you can't always remember the lie you
30:57can remember the truth you can't
30:58remember a lie so her story started
31:01changing and then they started to put
31:03together
31:04that maybe her story wasn't
31:07appropriate you know it wasn't
31:08didn't hold water because as you said
31:10the friend that she said she went and
31:12saw was at home
31:13so there was no cooperation there no
31:16alibi there they checked the security
31:18tapes at the local walmart they never
31:20saw susan smith in the store they talked
31:22to the greeters the walmart greeters and
31:24the cashiers that were on duty that
31:25night and newton is a very small town so
31:27everybody knows everybody
31:30and no one remembered seeing her
31:33in the store that night so there were a
31:35lot of holes starting to form in her
31:36story but as a last-ditch effort to seem
31:39sympathetic she agreed to go on all
31:41three major morning news programs and
31:43here's an expert excerpt from those
31:46interviews no ma'am i was not there and
31:49i do not know i
31:51i did agree uh signed a form for them to
31:54do that i was aware they were going to
31:55do that
31:56and i understand that's just one of the
32:00uh
32:00so
32:01as scrutiny started to hammer down on
32:03her
32:06sheriff wells decided he was
32:09he was going to interrogate her one more
32:10time so
32:12november 3rd
32:151994 he asked susan and david to meet
32:18him
32:19at the uh union christian community
32:21center behind the baptist church there
32:23in union for one for an entire
32:25interrogation so in a small in that
32:28small windowless room susan smith
32:30finally broke down and tell the truth in
32:32fact
32:33she told harold
32:35sheriff wells to shoot her she begged
32:38for his gun so she could do it herself
32:40and when he asked her why she confessed
32:43and so
32:45they dispatched deputies to howard long
32:48lake to drag it now bear in mind they
32:49had already drugged the lake
32:52a few days prior but only went about 100
32:54feet out well after susan's confession
32:58they went out further and at 122 feet
33:01out they found the mazda protege with a
33:04very small infant's hand pressed against
33:07the window
33:09and they removed the car from from the
33:12lake and exhumed the bodies of michael
33:15and alex which were
33:16very very deformed and bloated from
33:19being
33:21about two weeks underwater as you can
33:23imagine they were taken to the local
33:25funeral home where an autopsy was done
33:27and of course the cause of death was
33:29drowning
33:31susan smith was taken into custody and
33:34the announcement was made on national
33:36news susan smith has been arrested
33:39and will be charged with two counts of
33:42murder
33:43in connection
33:44with the deaths of her children
33:46michael three and alexander 14 months
33:51susan smith was held at the local
33:52detention center without bail by request
33:55because she feared for her safety if she
33:57was let out now if you've ever heard
33:59rumors about southern justice it's
34:01absolutely true someone would have
34:02killed her or they'd have burnt beverly
34:04russell's house down i mean that's how
34:07that's how things work especially in the
34:09south at that time and then you had the
34:10african-american community that was very
34:12upset that they had pinned this on a
34:14black man
34:16a fictional black man so yes for her
34:18safety she was held
34:20without bond
34:22as the investigation proceeded now
34:25a few days later
34:27back that sunday she confessed on
34:29november 3rd november
34:31november 6
34:33the funeral of michael and alex was held
34:35at the local church
34:38there were so many memorials and so many
34:40people in attendance that david smith
34:42senior the grandfather said that the
34:45cemetery
34:46was seven miles away and they had
34:48already their car had already arrived at
34:50the cemetery
34:51and there was still cars leaving the
34:53church parking lot that's how many
34:55people turned out to
34:57pay their last respects to these two
34:58innocent boys they were buried it was a
35:01closed casket funeral as you can imagine
35:03and they were buried in the same casket
35:06one made for a small person a small
35:08adult person
35:10they were buried
35:12there were many many flowers and
35:13memorials left at their graves john d
35:15long lake the access road became a
35:17memorial for them there were flowers and
35:19things left there
35:20and then from sorrow now bear in mind
35:23how big this was you even had mark class
35:25who's the father of poly class the young
35:2912 13 year old girl that was kidnapped
35:31in california that went on a rider
35:33offered a 200 000 reward for
35:36for her safe return
35:40he started a
35:41charity after
35:43her killer was brought to justice to
35:45help other families he even came out and
35:47met with the smiths and did his best to
35:48help i mean
35:50this was how
35:51bad this was
35:53so how big this was
35:55so
35:56now she's confessed she's sitting in
35:58jail
35:59her
36:00step her her parents the russell's
36:03mortgaged their house and hired uh the
36:06best attorneys for her to fight the case
36:08because they didn't fill a public
36:09defender would do a good job they hired
36:11a defense attorney david brock
36:14who
36:15put forth the defense of
36:17split personality disorder and insanity
36:21and
36:22union county uh
36:25prosecutor tommy pope
36:27made it his personal
36:29personal vendetta to bring her to
36:32justice he wanted the death penalty
36:34whereas on the defense side they said
36:37that the death penalty made no sense
36:38because she wanted to die the worst
36:40punishment would be to keep her alive
36:43okay yeah
36:45but anyway they started mounting their
36:47their defense they actually moved the
36:49trial outside of union
36:52and because they didn't feel they could
36:53get a fair jury in union
36:55and this was going on at the same time
36:57as the o.j simpson trial so
37:00court tv had just become a thing so you
37:02had two big trials going on at the same
37:04time both of them being watched
37:05o.j simpson and the susan smith trial
37:07whereas o.j simpson took about four
37:10months
37:11this trial was concluded in 17 days you
37:13had a jury of eight white people
37:16and four black african-american people
37:20found her unanimously guilty
37:23of murder
37:25and drowning of her two small children
37:29and
37:31she in an apology letter she wrote to
37:33david
37:34she said that she didn't realize how
37:35much she loved tom finley and she was
37:37forever sorry for what he for what she
37:39had done and so that's what it boiled
37:41down to
37:42she thought if she got rid of her
37:44children
37:45that tom finley would magically want her
37:47back again
37:48and all this came out in the trial i
37:50can't even imagine if she didn't want
37:52the children that's one thing
37:54did she think that maybe david might
37:56want them or their grandparents might
37:57want them if she wanted to be free of
38:00motherhood at the time
38:03i mean there's a lot of things you can
38:04do besides kill your children to get out
38:07of your parental responsibility i
38:09suppose
38:11but she had came out of the trial she
38:13had mentioned to people i wonder what my
38:14life would be like if i didn't have
38:16children so that's what it boiled down
38:18to and
38:19in south carolina at the time
38:22the the prosecution did prove a motive
38:24but they didn't have to they only had to
38:26prove that the murder was premeditated
38:28by as
38:30short as one second before it occurred
38:32so they did both they proved a motive
38:34and they proved it was definitely
38:35premeditated because why
38:38would you
38:39stop the car twice and then get out
38:41before you let it roll down that was
38:43premeditated she wasn't going to kill
38:44herself she just wanted to get rid of
38:46the kids
38:47so
38:48she now uh is serving a a life sentence
38:52with a parole eligibility in 30 years
38:54which will be 2005.
38:57or to excuse me 2025 pardon
39:00she was transferred to one prison in
39:03south carolina where then two
39:05correctional officers were convicted of
39:07having sex with her
39:08so her ways continued even in prison and
39:10then she was transferred to another and
39:12that's where she sits in prison in
39:14greenville south carolina and will until
39:17her first parole hearing comes up in
39:192025
39:22and so that's it that's the saga of
39:24susan and david smith and that led to
39:27the loss of these beautiful children
39:29david smith did go on to remarry the
39:31girlfriend he had at the time that this
39:33happened tiffany i won't say her last
39:34name but her first name was tiffany uh
39:37they went on to marry and have more
39:38children
39:40he is a happily married man to this day
39:42with grown children that still
39:45travels the country and speaks
39:47to victim
39:49advocacy groups
39:51on
39:53on what happened to him he also wrote a
39:55book called beyond all reason i read
39:57that book in preparation for this case i
39:59can't find it on kindle or audible it's
40:01that old but if you go to amazon you can
40:03still find a paperback or hardback
40:05edition i recommend giving it a read
40:06it's very good
40:08uh and as far as that book goes he did
40:10not get rich off that book he said he
40:12just wanted to recruit enough money to
40:14pay uh for his time loss work time lost
40:17at work and for the funeral expenses for
40:18michael and alex and that's what he
40:20recovered
40:21so
40:23that's where i'm going to end this
40:24sunday bloody sunday i hope you enjoyed
40:26it thank you so much uh please like
40:28comment share subscribe let me know what
40:30cases you'd like me to do because i want
40:32to build the white-collar crime and
40:34sunday bloody sunday i want this to be
40:36for you not just me next week the case
40:39of audrey marie hilly and then i want to
40:41start taking your suggestions beyond
40:43that so let me know
40:45like comment share subscribe ketosis
40:47y'all
40:48keto comic
40:50out
40:53[Music]

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