tom findlay susan smith

Sordid and tragic and powerfully real, Susan Smith's story begins with sex and ends with the murder of innocents. But unfortunately, it won't be me. Was she just a victim of the abuse she suffered, or a cold-hearted murderer of her two young children? Source: http://www.thomasandrewart.com/KathyKemparticle.html. I do want us to be friends forever and Ill never let anything happen that would change that. The idea that she would kill her . I was not in my right mind., In July 1995, Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, which is around the corner in November 2024. Why not simply give custody of the boys to their father? Have a tip? 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. They courted Walt Disney, which is building a catalog distribution warehouse in Union County; more than 300 people will get jobs. There was even an episode at the end of high school where Susan sought help from a school counselor. Most of them have left town. . Susan Leigh Smith (ne Vaughan; born September 26, 1971) is an American woman who was convicted of murdering her two sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, in 1994 by drowning them in a South Carolina lake. During the trial's penalty phase, the courtroom became a-battleground for the two competing views of the defendant-the scheming vixen and the emotionally damaged post-adolescent. The following year, prison captain. Smith had stood by his estranged wife during her nine-day charade, and he said he first heard about her confession on television. Findlay said Smith was in a suicidal panic the day before her children disappeared because she feared her estranged husband, David Smith, was "going to make it public" that she had cheated on him with Russell, who was then active in the Christian Coalition and state Republican Party politics. "He that is without sin among you," Bruck said, "let him first cast a stone at her. The children were hastily put in their car seats, nor were their shoes on. This development led to Smiths arrest and confession that she was behind her childrens tragic deaths. Last year, I grew Fortamino but the seeds didnt do well at all. Susan became pregnant and had an abortion. Susan was devastated by the end of her relationship with Tom. . But her composure crumbled when the diver who found her two small sons in her car at the bottom of John D. Long Lake took the stand. "She said, 'I'm going to give you this; I may not see you again'," Findlay recalled. FOR THIS NEWSWEEK POLL, PRINCETON SURVEY RESEARCH ASSOCIATES TELEPHONED 752 ADULTS JULY 27-28. Susan herself is now in prison after being found guilty of the murders of her children in July 1995. But others, when they travel, won't say where they're from because they'd rather not answer questions. Linda Vaughan married stockbroker Beverly Russell, the son of a leading local family, about a year and a half later. We won't post to any of your accounts without asking first. "She was scared of David," Findlay testified. Halleck said that she had sex with Tom Findlay, 28, the textile heir, but that he was not the main focus of her life. Some are proud to belong to a community that refused to wither in the spotlight. I care for you, but also care for Susan Brown and I would hate to see anyone get hurt. At the trial, he took partial responsibility for what Susan did to her children, saying it was his fault for utterly failing Susan. . The ramp led nine people to their deaths. . Keep scrolling below to find out more about Susan Smiths case, trial and to find out where she is today. ", Smith cried and hugged Bruck when the verdict was announced. For those who've been before, the changes will show. It was only last week that the true, terrible scope of Smith's dismal world came clear. On one hand, I feel sorry for the guy because he got wrapped in this mess when he clearly stated he wanted nothing to do with the girl. Smith's lawyers said in opening statements there was "no single reason" why Smith killed her children and insisted they would not attempt to portray her as a victim or use the "abuse excuse," a reference to Russell's admitted molestation of Smith when she was 16. Pastors who together counseled the inconsolable community became close friends. , whose father owned the mill she worked at. The judge took into consideration the abuse suffered by the defendant. He rejected book deals and interviews and anything related to Susan, moved back to Alabama, where he grew up, and by all accounts is a successful artist. Nov 01, 2008 #1 28 year old Tom Findlay had no idea when he began a relationship with Susan Smith, who worked within his father's company, that his name would be irrevocably linked with a tragedy that horrified the state, the nation, and many around the world. Susan, because you got pregnant and married at such an early age, you missed out on much of your youth. ", This smarmy rejection threw Smith into panic. . Susans thenhusband David Smith is nowremarried and a father again. UNION, S.C., July 25 -- A sobbing Susan Smith apologized Tuesday to her ex-husband for killing their children after he twice broke down in tears while testifying in the sentencing phase of her. Findlay said he had begun seeing Smith again last September after she assured him that she was in the process of divorcing her husband, a 24-year-old produce worker at the local Winn-Dixie where Susan Smith worked before becoming a secretary at Conso, the local plant owned by Findlay's father. 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. "He's got my babies," Smith said. She lied to police, conned her ex-husband and hood-winked the nation. Susan had been a sad and introspective child. They made a point of showing jurors the videotaped interviews in which Smith tearfully maintained the kidnapping hoax. If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. Her sexual activity in prison was discovered after she contracted a sexually transmitted disease. He told her to keep it: Smith was wearing the shirt when she drove her sons to the lake that evening. I wont do that again. So it was Susan Smith's claim that drove her to murder her two sons. Miller saved videos of local newscasts and the Smiths' network interviews, and recently appeared in a Smith documentary for the Arts and Entertainment Network. During the marriage, Smith had several affairs, and in August, 1993, after the birth of her second son, she hooked up with her wealthy boss, Tom Findlay. "Susan, I am not mad at you about what happened" at the hot-tub party, Findlay wrote. She kept those, too. But the marriage slowly un-raveled. At this point she seemed to get everything she wanted, especially about relationships with men. ``I want you to know that I have never felt with anyone, the way I feel when Im with you. All Rights Reserved. Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh if he is convicted of the bombing in Oklahoma City? 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. "There will always be something to remind each of us that such a thing happened here," she says. I was not myself, she wrote in a letter to The State in 2015. First, it is important to choose the right type of planter and support system for your plants. His father attempted suicide and his mother left for another city. Her confession of pushing the car into the lake began to come out. WISTV But I wanted to write you this letter because you are the one who is always making the effort for me, and I wanted to return the friendship. The marriage was a step up: Susan and her brothers, Michael and Scotty, moved into a comfortable ranch house in Mount Vernon Estates, an upscale subdivision outside Union. These feelings may change one day, but I doubt it. ", 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?". Actually, it "literally says" after 4 years he allowed her to leave, go shopping AND get a job. This year, I am considering a few varieties for graft, Take Action Now: How You Can Fight Climate Change and Protect Our Environment, The Effects of Climate Change on Our Environment She began sleeping with her boss's son, Tom Findlay, in January 1994. TUESDAY, Oct. 18, 1994 _ Susan Smith's boyfriend, Tom Findlay, breaks off their relationship saying he doesn't want the responsibility of children. And I dont want to be responsible for anyone elses (sic) children, either. On Oct. 17, according to Findlay, Smith gave him a greeting card and a handwritten letter accepting their breakup with equanimity and pledging her eternal friendship, saying, "I will always love and care for you the rest of my life. "Really, I think this is an example of how little this situation is on the minds of people who live here. Where is Bev Berverly Russell? "Susan, I could really fall for you," he continued. 'You don't have all the guilt,' Beverly Russell, Smith's stepfather, says at her trial. Barring an appeal, she will be in prison for at least 80 years- condemned not to die, but to live with her ghastly memories. ", Findlay went on to write: "Susan, I could really fall for you. According to a deposition taken in March in connection with Susan and David's divorce (which became final in May), soon after she began working at Conso Products in 1993, Susan took up with. Although Russell clearly initiated sexual contact, the case file suggests Susan may have led him on. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20358219,00.html Tom, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how he would end his relationship with Susan. In July 1995, Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, which is around the corner in November 2024. He really got a bad rap out of all of this even though, IMHO, he had no contribution to the situation. In Touch Weekly is part of the a360media Entertainment Group.Copyright a360media 2023. David Smith worked in the store as a produce clerk. Her saga of suicide attempts and molestation and depression and marital deception is embodied in those closest to the case. Looking forward to reading more true crime articles by you. Send it to us! If a mother who deliberately drowns her children in a pique over a failed romance doesn't deserve to die, who does? On the outside everything looked good, but Susan carried with her a big family secret. 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. They still credit him for containing a potentially volatile racial divide by refusing to detain the many black men who might have fit Smith's description of her hijacker. Because of her position, she became exposed to affluent people and how the wealthy lived. And Susan Smith thought she had him hooked. Something went very wrong that night. 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. You will without a doubt make some lucky man a great wife. Something went wrong and their Suburban rolled into the lake. According to Findlay, Smith claimed: * that her husband was tapping her phone and having her followed; * that she had had an affair with Findlay's father; * that she made up the story of the affair with the elder Findlay to test his son's feelings for her; * that she was considering having an affair with the husband of a good friend; * that she had had an affair with Beverly Russell and David Smith was going to publicize it. Beverly Bev Russell, a successful local businessman. Susan gave the police the exact distance the car floated before sinking. Susan Smith's most intense extramarital affair was with a newfound employee at Conso Products in 1993. Since she said there were no other cars on the road, there was no reason for her to see the red light. ``It is 11:50 p.m. and I am getting very sleepy. She goes to Tom and reveals that she has been having sex with her stepfather since she was 16. . During one of their separations, Susan began having a relationship with Tom Findlay, who was known as one of the most eligible bachelors in Union. The letter about the reasons for the breakup, written by Tom, was also inside the car. Sheriff Howard Wells took polygraph tests on David and Susan. For court records, I would make a request to Union County if you cant find them online. premieres Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. on Lifetime. Fox Carolina Susans ex, Tom Findlay, ironically went on to find happiness with a girlfriend and HER TWO KIDS! He was considered twenty years ago to be the most eligible bachelor in Union, as the son of a wealthy mill owner. She was also sexually abused by her stepfather. Her father committed suicide when she was 7 years old. Smith was separated from her now-ex-husband, and started dating Tom Findlay, whose father owned the mill she worked at. Tom Findlay's letter, as gentle as it tried to be, had brought Susan Smith in direct and brutal contact with her own lies, deceit, narcissism, and lust. The most startling testimony, however, came from Smith's ex-lover, Thomas Findlay, who said aloud in open court what has been whispered in this small Southern town since Susan Smith confessed to murder last fall -- that she had been having a secret affair with her stepfather, Beverly Russell. She said she wanted to kill herself and her children, but in the end she got out of the car and sent the boys to their deaths. Findlay said his relationship with Smith then took confusing turns in the days before Smith killed her children. Susan asked Sheriff Wells to pray with her, and then she began to cry and say how ashamed she felt for what she had done. I mean, one minute you were a kid, and the next minute you were having kids. In Northern California, side grafting wasnt very successful either. With the promotion came a new life for Susan. These feelings may change one day, but I doubt it. THE MARGIN OF ERROR IS +/- 4 PERCENTAGE POINTS. TIME During the 1995 trial, Lindasthen husband Beverly Russell, Susans stepfather, admitted to molesting Susan when she was 15 and continuing to have sex with her after she was married with the last time being in August of 1994, two months before the murders. The Barnes family of Maple Shade, N.J., sent an arrangement of carnations and daisies. . The fruit typically ranges from 8 to 10 ounces and is smooth with no blemishes or cracks. The letter gave reasons justifying the end of the relationship. Her attitude toward the kidnapping of her children was extremely exaggerated. "We agreed the intimate part of our relationship should be postponed till she was divorced," Findlay testified. The prosecution's main weapon was tear-drenched testimony from a vengeful David Smith, who accepted a box of tissues from Judge William Howard. With Findlay, Susan finally believed she would be able to have some stability in her life but, she was mistaken. "But forgive--that's something I'm going to have to deal with, I guess, further on down the road. Shortly after joining the company she was promoted to the position of executive secretary to Consos president and CEO, Carey Findlay. Is Every Duggar Ridiculously Messy? The case of Susan Smith, the woman who killed her young sons in 1994, will be explored in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries Cellmate Secrets. We have been raised in two totally different environments, and therefore, think totally different. . Susan was already familiar with such a situation and she was able to comfort David in the following months. ", That was the bitter end of a tumultuous, too-early marriage. Caldwell said. Russell has not attended the trial but may be called as a witness. She is currently based at the Leath Correctional Institution near Greenwood, South Carolina. Since her arrest at South Carolinas Leath Correctional Institution, two guards have been punished for having sex with Smith. Im just going to live one day at a time. And I want you to know that I am flattered that you have such a high opinion of me. Caso Criminal 2023 - All rights reserved. ``Thank you for being there for me through all the rough times. However, RST 106 on large potato leaved types did well when grown in grow bags. And your friendship is one that I will always look upon with sincere affection. This year, as the bands and barbecue mavens set up, television trucks arrived on Main Street, but not for anybody's sauce recipe. He told her he felt like some kind of pervert when it happened." Findlay received a salary of $214,615 last year, according to company filings with the. Jurors heard Smith's love letters read aloud and watched a videotaped television interview Smith gave shortly after reporting that her two toddlers had been kidnapped by a black carjacker last Oct. 25. Findlay, a slight, balding graphic designer, appeared to exchange a quick half-smile with Smith from the stand during a break in his testimony about their brief fling, which he said began around Christmastime of 1993 and ended the following March when David Smith angrily warned him to stay away from his wife. The bottom line is: Im glad we are friends and if that is all we can be, then we will just have to do a hell of a job of being that. Actually, he is online. Smith ended her young boys lives by letting her 1990 Mazda roll into a South Carolina lake with both 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander strapped into their car seats. . ', Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Maybe he wasnt ready for children at the time at such a young age. This is "a difficult letter to write because I know how much you think of me . . I told her the intimate part of our relationship would have to end. Ms. Smiths letter (handwritten, not dated): ``Just a note to say thank you for everything. But seeing you kiss another man put things back into perspective. David felt left out. 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. Susan, I value our friendship very much. Thank you for this well written article. People.com For. Tom Findlay, get over yourself..youre really not all that attractive anyway. Then she drove out to John D. Long Lake and let her maroon Mazda Protege roll into the reddish-brown water. He has turned to his part so often the spine is creased. I know I did when we were messing around earlier this year. In 2019, 25 years after the incident, PEOPLE obtained records. Russell and Smith's mother, Linda, are separated. The fact is, I just don't want children. Findlay said he had begun seeing Smith again last September after she assured him that she was in the process of divorcing her husband, a 24-year-old produce worker at the local Winn-Dixie. As he told it, he and Susan became lovers in early 1994. 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. Initially, Smith told authorities a black man had carjacked her and kidnapped the boys. I would hate for people to perceive you as an unreputable [sic] person. Who is he to be dishing out advice? "A passing love affair," Halleck called it. Bev was influential in the community, had good lawyers who would know how to successfully suppress situations like this. "Dear Susan," Findlay said. With the boys' at her side, Smith issues a national appeal for help. 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. Susan Smith called the police saying that she had her car stolen by a black man who kidnapped her two young children. Findlay senior owns a company called Conso Inc., which makes interior-decorating products; he is among the wealthiest Union County residents. Excerpts from a letter Susan Smith wrote to Tom Findlay on Oct. 17, and his reply, written the same day and given to her Oct. 18. But something was not right in their relationship, Susan was extremely materialistic and always borrowed money from her mother. The car apparently took almost six minutes to disappear-and Michael and Alex, trusting and helpless, can only have died screaming for their mother. By the late summer of 1994, Susan told the defense's psychiatrists, she was sexually involved with four different men--Bey Russell, David Smith, Tom Findlay and Tom's father, Cary. "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. I mean Bev was getting around having sex with his wife and dauther for not days or weeks or months, but for years! She is currently based at the Leath Correctional Institution near Greenwood, South Carolina. She made a tearful plea on national television for their safe return. See the 'Counting On' Kids' Houses, Look How Much the Little Couple's Kids Will and Zoey Have Grown Up, Every Look From the Kardashian-Jenner Family at the 2021 Met Gala, Gabby Petito's Texts Show 'More and More Tension' With Brian Laundrie, 'Welcome to Plathville' Kim Plath's DUI Case Closed: Fine, More Details, Sister Wives Kody, Robyn Were With a Mystery Blonde: Identity Revealed, Megan Fox and MGK's Relationship Is 'Toxic': 'There Is Concern for Her', Farrah Abraham Slams Mom-Shamers Over Daughter Sophias Piercings, Jon Gosselin Is 'Open' With Kids Collin, Hannah About Their Dating Lives. For nine days, she pleaded for the safe return of her babies while making appearances on television, only to have the true story later be revealed. In June 1993 he started dating a co-worker. ``Again, you will always have my friendship. The outcome flatly contradicts current public opinion. Smith's natural father committed suicide when she was 6. In January 1994, Susan started dating a co-worker from her job at Conso Products Tom Findlay. . ``Susan, I am not mad at you about what happened this weekend. Bruck had it exactly right. ``But our differences go far beyond the children issue. Follow me on Instagram down below. The flowers came with thank-you notes. She was two months pregnant--the child was David's-when they were married on March 15, 1991. I was not ready to assume the important responsibilities of being a father, Findlay wrote in a statement issued through his lawyers. According to previously secret records from a state family court, Russell began molesting Susan when she was 15. For nine days, she pleaded for the safe return of her babies while making appearances on television, only to have the, Many people believe her motive was because she was dating a man who didnt want children at the time. 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. And a nation that has heard the squalid evidence about Smith's liaisons with four different men, including her own stepfather, voted 63 percent to 28 percent in a NEWSWEEK survey that she should have been put to death. Thank you for your article. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. Susan Smith was both perpetrator and victim. Americans seem guilty of vast hypocrisy. She also had dramatic moments of deep sobbing, but remained dry-eyed and tearless. 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. Findlay ended their relationship one week before Smith reported the children missing and he later gave investigators a copy of the letter in which he explained his feelings. 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. In the summer of 1988, Susan got a temporary job as a cashier at a local grocery store. Susan felt indebted to her mother and allowed her to dictate the rules. She flirted with another man, and Tom, to judge by the Dear Jane letter he sent her two days later, was at least somewhat offended. 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. A coincidence, says Vickie Shields, the local "hometown coordinator" under the South Carolina Downtown Development Corp. No one noticed the timing until too late. However, although she was sentenced to life in prison, she is up for parole in 2024. I will always treasure our friendship and all of the many wonderful memories we have made. Beverly Russell, a leader of the Christian Coalition at one time, and Linda Russell split up before the trial. Over the next several days, Findlay testified, they had a series of highly emotional conversations. Chicago Tribune. Tom Findlay testified as a prosecution witness at the trial-for in the prosecution's view, he was the real reason Susan killed her boys. ), A strapping, silver-haired man, Russell stunned the courtroom by admitting that his consensual involvement with Susan continued intermittently through her marriage and subsequent separation from David Smith. She claimed that she did not see any other cars on the road, but the light turned red. Even in the face of all the facts, David seemed to have some compassion for Susan. Idania Pena sent a letter from Miami: "In loving memory of two beautiful creatures that perished in the hands of the person they most trusted: their own mother. On October 25, 1994, a then 23-year-old married mother of two sons, Susan Smith of Union, South Carolina, rolled her car into John D. Long Lake with her boys strapped inside, drowning them. All the time, people bring them gifts. Susan could not continue working at the same place as David, so she looked for a new job. By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and that you have read our Privacy Policy. He cited the differences in their backgrounds, and was also emphatic about not wanting children or wanting to raise children. ", It was not her loss alone.

Fort Carson Deployment Schedule 2022, 20 Billion Dollars To Naira, What Kind Of Oil Does Waffle House Use, Married At First Sight Amber Height, Articles T