Susan Smith Leaves Her Children to Drown in a Lake, Now Wants Out of Jail

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Thirty years after Susan Smith rolled her car into a lake, her two sons still strapped in their car seats, she wants parole.

After high school, Susan Leigh Vaughan marries David Smith. They have two sons, but the children don't keep the marriage together. The Smiths separated several times. During one of these separations, Susan Smith begins dating Tom Findlay, the single son of a wealthy mill owner. Smith is planning a future with her new beau when she gets a Dear John letter from Findley. He explains that he doesn't want an instant family.

On the night of October 25, Susan Smith knocks on the door of a house near John D. Long Lake. She is hysterical when the man answers the door and tells him to call the police. She says an armed black man just carjacked her at a red light. Her two boys, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, are still in the car. For days Susan Smith tells an ever-changing story of the carjacking.

Then Susan Smith finally admits what she has done. There never was a hijacker. She went out for a drive with her sons buckled into their car seats in the back. Feeling desperate, alone, and suicidal, she drove to John D. Long Lake and puts the car in neutral. She jumps out and watches the car sink. Scuba divers locate the vehicle with the boys in the back, still buckled into their seats.

Since Susan Smith was convicted and jailed, tabloid news reports claim Smith told prison investigators that she had four sexual encounters with Lieutenant Houston Cagle, a supervisor at South Carolina's Women's Correctional Institution.

Cagle admitted having sex with Smith and another prisoner. He was charged with the offenses in August 2000. The 50-year-old Cagle pleaded guilty and spent 3 months in jail. Captain Alfred Rowe also pleaded guilty to having sex with Smith and was sentenced to five years' probation.

Several men have written to Smith over the years, with Smith looking to a life outside prison. In March of 2022, People magazine gained access to letters Smith wrote to a long-distance boyfriend. In one letter Smith wrote, "I can't wait to build a life with you, leave the past mistakes behind and start fresh, just you and me."

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

• Tara Malek – Boise, ID, Attorney & Co-owner of Smith + Malek; Former State and Federal Prosecutor; Twitter: @smith_malek
• Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills, CA); Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall; Twitter: @DrBethanyLive
• Chris McDonough – Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room”
• JoScott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University; Author, “Blood Beneath My Feet;” Host: “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;" Twitter: @JoScottForensic
• Dave Mack - CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter

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