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    • Convicted murderer Susan Smith denied parole in South Carolina
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    Convicted murderer Susan Smith denied parole in South Carolina

    Vaseline Posted on

    The South Carolina government has denied parole for convicted murderer Susan Smith.

    Smith’s hearing before probation, parole and pardon officials began at 11:41 a.m. and took place at the department’s headquarters in Columbia.

    The hearing was Smith’s first since she was convicted 30 years ago after pushing a car into John D. Long Lake in Union County with her two sons tied up. She initially said a black man had hijacked her car and kidnapped her children, but admitted to the crime nine days later.

    After several hours of testimony, five board members, Kim Fredrick, Reno R. Boyd, Frank D. Wideman, Henry S. Elridge and Mollie DuPriest Taylor, voted unanimously against parole. A sixth board member, Geraldine Miro, withdrew from the vote, citing her time as interim warden at Graham Correctional Institute, where Smith was once an inmate.

    Smith, 53, attended the hearing virtually from the Leath Correctional Institute.

    “First of all, I want to say how sorry I am,” a sobbing Smith told the board. “I know what I did was terrible. I would give anything if I could go back and change it. I loved Michael and Alex with all my heart.”

    Board member Frederick asked Smith what she would say to the first responders and people who helped find her two sons.

    “I’m sorry I did that to them,” Smith replied. “I’m sorry for the divers who found them. I lied, I was just scared. I didn’t know how to tell the people who loved them (Michael and Alex) that they would never see them again.”

    According to her lawyer Tommy Thomas, Smith would live a “quiet life” with her brother if he were released on parole. Thomas said the crime was a story of poor mental health that began when her father committed suicide when she was a child.

    “It’s about the danger of untreated mental health and the lack of diagnosis. A major contributor to this crime was her father’s suicide. She blamed herself, and it set the stage for some serious mental health issues and severe depression that culminated in,” Thomas said.

    Two friends, Ann and Tom Curry, spoke on Smith’s behalf at the hearing.

    “I really think Susan is ready for parole now. She is surrounded by a supportive community. She has done everything she can to prepare herself for life outside of prison. She is not the young woman she was when she entered the prison,” said Ann Curry.

    Smith’s ex-husband, David Smith, along with family members and former prosecutor Tommy Pope, testified vehemently against her release.

    “Susan has always focused on Susan. She chose a man instead of her family, if she could have put David in the car she would have had. She led everyone through nine terrible days,” Pope said.

    In 1994, investigators determined that an extramarital affair with a man who did not want children was Smith’s motive for killing her boys.

    David Smith’s current wife, Tiffany Smith, also testified at the parole hearing, saying the past few decades have been difficult for her husband and that it would not be fair or just to see his former wife released.

    “I’ve seen David’s pain and suffering; you can’t imagine,” Tiffany Smith said. “It has been difficult as a loving wife to suffer and see the pain he has gone through, from not wanting to get out of bed to not being able to get out of bed because the pain was so bad for him. She took two precious little boys that we didn’t get to see grow up.”

    David Smith was the last person to speak on behalf of his family.

    “This wasn’t a tragic choice or something she didn’t plan to do. She made a choice to end their lives. She has never shown remorse. That night she changed my life for the rest of my life. She not only took the lives of Michael and Alex, but also my life because of the grief she brought with her,” he said.

    Susan Smith will be eligible for parole again in 2026. David Smith promised to appear at every hearing to request her denial.

    “I miss them very much, and I loved them very much, and I will be here every two years to make sure their deaths are not in vain,” he said.

    More about Susan Smith: Susan Smith is released on parole: ‘It’s clear she didn’t think about Michael and Alex’

    “They never had the chance to have a life of their own. Susan took that from them, she took that from all of us, and now she wants a chance to be free. No, life (in prison) should mean life,” said Savannah Smith, David Smith’s sister.

    Smith was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after thirty years. She became eligible on November 4.

    So far in 2024, only 8% of inmates have been released on parole, according to the administration. This year, more than 2,600 prisoners were interviewed. More than fifteen prisoners were heard on Wednesday, but each of them was rejected.

    According to department spokesperson Anita Dantzler, the board received 471 correspondence regarding Smith’s parole as of Nov. 18. Six of the total supported her release.

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