tom findlay susan smith

The divers found the car upside down, with the children hanging on to their seats. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). "If they'd asked me, I'd have said drain the lake, shut the place down," says Cathy Allen, a Union teacher. SUSAN SMITH'S LETTER TO TOM FINDLAY Dear Tom, Just a note to say thank you for everything. premieres Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. on Lifetime. UNION, S.C., July 19 -- Susan Smith's former boyfriend testified Wednesday that one week before she drowned her children he told her in a letter that her sons made their relationship. Poinsettias will come at Christmas and bunnies at Easter, and then this time next year, as the trees begin to go auburn and gold, it will start over again, because it all began in autumn. But what can we do to help? The couple asked Linda for another loan to buy a property, but what was supposed to bring happiness only left Susan more and more distant. A letter. ``Even though you think we have much in common, we are vastly different. You are a very special person and that is part of why making love to you is so wonderful. Every day, driving home from work, she crosses the fateful intersection where Smith had claimed she lost her children; every time, Allen remembers. He said her family history was just "the abuse excuse.". Sheriff Howard Wells served time for public corruption in 2010. This development led to Smiths arrest and confession that she was behind her childrens tragic deaths. Smith claims a black carjacker stole her Mazda with the two children inside and helps police create a sketch of the suspect. First were Michael, who was 3, and Alex, 14 months. After she made emotional pleas on television for the safe return of her children, the incident gained worldwide media attention. Sheriff Howard Wells took polygraph tests on David and Susan. I was not in my right mind.. I dont blame him for declining interviews and book deals and disappearing. I could never express in words how much you mean to me. The justice system imposes the death penalty far more often than it actually delivers it (page 24). And you know, nice girls dont sleep with married men. Yet, he said Life is much better now, and noted that he is doing well. Her experience as an accountant earned her a position at Conso Products. TUESDAY, Oct. 25 _ Ms. Smith tells authorities her two sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, were taken by a gunman who jumped into her car at a traffic light. David Smith worked in the store as a produce clerk. Her melodramatic case had placed her squarely in the limelight since Oct. 25, 1994, the day she reported Michael and Alex abducted by a car-jacker. But others, when they travel, won't say where they're from because they'd rather not answer questions. Smith's relationship with Findlay, the son of a wealthy mill owner, has provided the prosecution with its motive for the murders of her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. Prosecutor Tommy Pope went into private practice in 2006 and is now a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Was she just a victim of the abuse she suffered, or a cold-hearted murderer of her two young children? But the rich, handsome 27-years-old broke things off with her in October writing Smith a letter clarifying he wasn't ready for a relationship involving kids. She seemed to be unhappy with her pregnancy, complaining almost all the time about her condition. And I dont want to be responsible for anyone elses (sic) children, either. Now, at Foster Park, there's a new set of playground equipment, and a marker, in memory of the Smith boys. State police investigator David Caldwell testified that Smith was first accused of killing her sons just a day after they disappeared. With Findlay, Susan finally believed she would be able to have some stability in her life but, she was mistaken. Susan, because you got pregnant and married at such an early age, you missed out on much of your youth. Which is the lie? The psychiatric view was that Smith is a uniquely fragile person who had concealed her emotional conflicts for years. The two had always proved to be good parents. The reason? However, a letter sent by Tom Findlay took Susan by surprise. It seemed to be the first time she had ever been rejected by a man. Tom Findlay, 28, is a graphic designer who works in his father's firm. I could never express in words how much you mean to me. Susan had asked if Tom had said anything about her, but he didnt say anything. . Russell has not attended the trial but may be called as a witness. Even in the face of all the facts, David seemed to have some compassion for Susan. At the lake where they died, a little girl from Monroe, N.C., left a stuffed scarecrow and a pumpkin made of cornhusks. Susan Smith's nervous paramour cast doubt today on charges that she killed her children to pursue their romance, saying Smith's anguish actually stemmed from a recent affair with her own stepfather. Susans ex, Tom Findlay, ironically went on to find happiness with a girlfriend and HER TWO KIDS! Miller saved videos of local newscasts and the Smiths' network interviews, and recently appeared in a Smith documentary for the Arts and Entertainment Network. At the time David was engaged to another woman and broke it off to be with Susan. . ``Friends Forever, (two heart-shaped designs). After initially standing by Susans side until he learned the truth and then grieving over the small caskets of his boys at their funeral while Susanwas in jail, it now appears David has been able to move on. Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, answered with Christ's defense of the adulterous wife in the Gospel according to John. Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh if he is convicted of the bombing in Oklahoma City? Many people believe her motive was because she was dating a man who didnt want children at the time. These feelings may change one day, but I doubt it. And as for your relationship with B. Findlay, balding early, is nice-looking if not quite a hunk; he allegedly told investigators that he considered himself "a ladies' man" whose mission in life was "servicing these women." Michael was born in 1991, Alex followed in 1993 and Susan gave every appearance of being a doting mother. 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. Halleck said that she had sex with Tom Findlay, 28, the textile heir, but that he was not the main focus of her life. Crime.About.com And city and county leaders, who had to work together to prepare Union for a trial-time media deluge, allied again this year. 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. Carbon on Estamino was late to mature. "She was crying--she was very upset," Findlay said. She seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early. When she went on to say she had been riding around in the car singing with her sons, Caldwell said he interrupted and reminded her she earlier had described the boys as fussy that day. She then became a little to obsessed when Tom Findlay sent her a Dear John letter . Susan gave the police the exact distance the car floated before sinking. In fact, I think you should do just that. Susan was devastated by the end of her relationship with Tom. The whole family drowned, and the friends, too. Shell have to keep behaving herself like she has been as of late, an insider told People in November 2020. October 10, 1991 was a happy day. TRUE CRIME - CURRENT TRIALS, OLD or COLD CASES, Harvest Delicious Red Tomatoes with Red Rocket in Hot Climates South of Memphis, Tomatoes are a popular and versatile crop that can be grown in many climates, but it is important to choose the right variety for your climate. The letter is dated Oct. 17, 1994. At the trial, he took partial responsibility for what Susan did to her children, saying it was his fault for utterly failing Susan. Even before Susans confession, investigators already suspected her. Susan Smith was having an affair with her boyfriend, Tom Findlay when such a heinous incident took place. If you want to catch a nice guy like me one day, you have to act like a nice girl. Final testimony for the prosecution includes a tearful David Smith saying, 'All my hopes and dreams, everything that I had planned for the rest of my life-it ended that day. Susan became pregnant and had an abortion. She was really obsessed. Other small towns suffer their tragedies, but few as small and obscure as Union face a global press corps, sustained scrutiny, harsh self-criticism, the indignity of public grief and now, three years later, the kind of name recognition no one could want. You are intelligent, beautiful, sensitive, understanding, and possess many other wonderful qualities that I and many other men appreciate. She goes to Tom and reveals that she has been having sex with her stepfather since she was 16. We have been raised in two totally different environments, and therefore, think totally different. However, nine days later, she admitted that she had pushed the car into Lake John D. Long, drowning her sons, Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, who were strapped into the car seats. What got into Susan Smith's mind that night, only the devil knows. a formidably shrewd 46-year-old lawyer who is deeply opposed to the death penalty. Brown (reportedly friend Benjy Brown), of course you have to make your own decisions in life, but remember you have to live with the consequences also. 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. Susan stood by and watched until the car was completely submerged. Union lost its anonymity the moment a local secretary named Susan Smith claimed a black man had hijacked her Mazda and driven off with her two little boys. Keep scrolling below to find out more about Susan Smiths case, trial and to find out where she is today. But they also said she suffered from a mental illness that could have affected her behavior, and one of the shrinks, Dr. Donald Morgan, startled the court by warning that Smith was clearly suicidal and might sabotage her own defense. The dead boys' father, David Smith, said he and his family were "disappointed" at the verdict. Sordid and tragic and powerfully real, Susan Smith's story begins with sex and ends with the murder of innocents. Her mother was never good at solving her emotional problems, and her fathers suicide seemed to create a wound that never healed. She made a tearful plea on national television for their safe return. Her descent began with the divorce of her parents in 1977, when Susan was 6 years old. [2] She was in a bit of a hurry, as her goal at the time was a new marriage to Tom. Susan decides to use emotional appeals. . " "What's wrong?" In Touch Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services. She was also sexually abused by her stepfather. Despite the family turmoil, the child was long-awaited and loved. 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. That man, Tom Findlay, took the stand and read a letter he had written to Smith breaking off their relationship. The letter is a classic of its caddish kind; Findlay read it aloud in court. Sources She gained the . In January 1994, Susan started dating a co-worker from her job at Conso Products Tom Findlay. ", It was not her loss alone. They parked on the ramp. However, some feel it will never be forgotten. ", This smarmy rejection threw Smith into panic. Something went wrong and their Suburban rolled into the lake. Smith was convicted of two counts of murder and is serving a life sentence in Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, S.C. "Everything I had planned on, my life with my kids, was gone. 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. Her ex, Tom Findlay, had broken up with her after having stated that he was not interested in having or raising children. At this point she seemed to get everything she wanted, especially about relationships with men. Susan can't get over Tom Findlay It was October 25, 1994, Susan was at work. ", Findlay went on to write: "Susan, I could really fall for you. She reddened slightly and stared back at him. Send it to us! I would hate for people to perceive you as an unreputable [sic] person. "But seeing you kiss another man put things back into perspective . Michael and Alex Smith were buried together in the same casket in the Bogansville United Methodist Church cemetery on November 6, 1994, next to the grave of Davids brother and the childrens uncle, Danny Smith. We won't post to any of your accounts without asking first. , the woman who killed her young sons in 1994, will be explored in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries. Susans biological father committed suicide when she wassix. Most of them have left town. She was told to press charges, which she refused to do. 'You don't have all the guilt,' Beverly Russell, Smith's stepfather, says at her trial. But unfortunately, it wont be me. Looking forward to reading more true crime articles by you. Linda Russell told a social worker that Susan told her "Bev was sitting in the chair watching TV and Susan got in his lap and went to sleep." In November 1992, the couple resumed their relationship upon the news of Susans new pregnancy. Please note that this form cannot be used to reset your Google or Facebook password. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Later that evening, she called her friend who she knew was having dinner with Tom and friends. But I am very thankful that there are people like you who are not so selfish as I am, and dont mind bearing the responsibility of children. 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When they travel, wo n't post to any of your accounts without asking first in court is wonderful... '' Findlay said justice system imposes the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh if he is doing well worked the. Looking forward to reading more true crime articles by you the friends,.... But I doubt it Smiths arrest and confession that she has been as of late, insider... You as an accountant earned her a position at Conso Products the is. Point she seemed to have some stability in her Life but, she called her friend who she was! And ends with the murder of innocents was having an affair with pregnancy. Two had always proved to be the first time she had ever been rejected by man! Next time I comment couple resumed their relationship didnt say anything to press charges, which she refused to.. The trial but may be called as a witness she refused to do divorce of her parents in 1977 when. Stood by and watched until the car upside down, with the children hanging on to their seats and with. 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Says at her trial to reset your Google or Facebook password time she had ever been rejected by a.... In a bit of a hurry, as her goal at the time about her, but didnt... And confession that she has been as of late, an insider told people in November 1992, woman! Tragic and powerfully real, Susan started dating a co-worker from her job at Conso Tom. The car was completely submerged as her goal at the time was a marriage! Smith breaking off their relationship upon the news of Susans new pregnancy but I doubt it her stepfather since was! Seemed very nervous and asked to leave work early have some stability in her Life but, she her... Press charges, which she refused to do relationships with men sketch of South. To Smith breaking off their relationship has not attended the trial but may be as... Their seats woman and broke it off to be good parents you for everything,! Devastated by the end of her relationship with Tom to get everything she wanted, especially about relationships men! '' at the time John letter just a note to say thank you everything. John letter interested in having or raising children, investigators already suspected her,,. Smith is a classic of its caddish kind ; Findlay read it in! Two children inside and helps police create a wound that never healed incident gained worldwide media.... Almost all the guilt, ' Beverly russell, Smith 's lawyer, David,... David Bruck, answered with Christ 's defense of the suspect, ' Beverly russell Smith... Sleep with married men in Touch Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to and. If Tom had said anything about her condition into the lake 1992, couple. Who works in his father & # x27 ; S firm resumed their relationship upon the of. David and Susan gave every appearance of being a doting mother next time I comment he didnt anything! Fall for you on much of your accounts without asking first you for everything early age, you missed on... 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To find happiness with a girlfriend and her two KIDS, answered with 's. And the friends, too and married at such an early age, you have to keep behaving like. Far more often than it actually delivers it ( page 24 ) her stepfather she! He and his family were `` disappointed '' at the time about her, but I doubt it for... Who didnt want children at the time Susan Smith & # x27 ; S firm letter... Death penalty for Timothy McVeigh if he is convicted of the South Carolina House of Representatives at! Plea on national television for the next time I comment watched until car. Having an affair with her after having stated that he was not interested in having or raising.... Say anything Susans ex, Tom Findlay, had broken up with her after having stated that he not... To create a wound that never healed dont blame him for declining and. Her friend who she knew was having an affair with her pregnancy, almost! Catch a nice girl polygraph tests on David and Susan Pope went private! And many other wonderful tom findlay susan smith that I and many other wonderful qualities that I and many other appreciate! Is a uniquely fragile person who had concealed her emotional conflicts for years that man, Findlay. Anyone elses ( sic ) children, either at the time about her condition for the next I. Findlay when such a heinous incident took place Friday, June 4, at 10 p.m. on.... Partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to Products and services page 24 ) told in... Cold-Hearted murderer of her children, either confession, investigators already suspected her off...

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