Three decades after Susan Smith submerged her car in a lake with her two sons secured in their car seats, she requested parole. Her appeal was rejected by a parole board, and later a suitor disclosed that Smith had fantasized about joining “Dancing with the Stars.”
Reportedly “devastated” over the denied parole, recent unsettling texts reveal that Smith receives financial contributions from several men she communicates with from prison.
Susan Leigh Vaughan, after completing high school, married David Smith. Together, they had two sons, but their relationship struggled to survive despite the children. The couple went through multiple separations.
Amid one separation, Susan started a relationship with Tom Findlay, the unmarried son of a prosperous mill owner. She envisioned a life with Findlay until he sent her a “Dear John” letter, indicating he wasn’t interested in an instant family.
On October 25, Susan Smith appeared at the door of a house near John D. Long Lake. In a state of hysteria, she asked the man who answered to contact the police.
She alleged that an armed Black man had carjacked her at a traffic light, with her sons—3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex—still inside the car. Over several days, Susan retold the carjacking story with increasing inconsistencies.
Eventually, Smith confessed. There had been no carjacker. Feeling desperate, alone, and suicidal, she had taken her sons for a drive. At John D. Long Lake, she put the car in neutral, jumped out, and watched as it sank. Scuba divers later found the vehicle with the boys still strapped in their seats.
Since her conviction and incarceration, tabloid reports have alleged that Smith told prison investigators about four sexual encounters with Lieutenant Houston Cagle, a supervisor at South Carolina’s Women’s Correctional Institution.
Cagle admitted to having sex with Smith and another inmate. In August 2000, he was charged with the offenses, pleaded guilty, and served three months in jail. Captain Alfred Rowe also pleaded guilty to having sex with Smith and received five years of probation.
Over the years, several men have written to Smith, fueling her hopes for a life beyond prison.
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[Feature Photo: Michael and Alex Smith/Handout]
