Susan Smith rarely had a stable home life growing up. Her father died by suicide when she was six years old, and Smith herself attempted suicide at age 13. Her mother then married Beverly Russell, a member of the local chapter of the Christian Coalition, who later was revealed to have molested Smith when she was a teenager. One newspaper claimed that sexual relations between them had continued until six months before the murders. After graduating from high school in 1989, Smith made a second attempt to kill herself after a married man ended the affair they had. She married David Smith, and they had two sons. The relationship was rocky due to mutual allegations of infidelity, and they separated several times.
Crimes
On October 25, 1994, Smith reported to police that her vehicle had been carjacked by a black man who drove away with her sons still inside. The composite sketch of the alleged carjacker, however was "too generic" in the sense that it described half of the African-American men who lived in the community. For nine days, she made dramatic pleas on national television for the boys' safe return. However, following an intensive investigation and a nationwide search for her children, she confessed on November 3, 1994 to letting her car roll into nearby John D. Long Lake, drowning them inside. Her motivation was reportedly to facilitate a relationship with a local wealthy man by the name of Tom Findlay. Prior to the murders he sent Susan a letter ending their relationship and expressing that he did not want children. She said that there was no motive nor did she plan the murders, stating that she was not in a right state of mind. Later investigation revealed that detectives doubted Smith's story from the start and believed that she murdered her sons. By the second day of the investigation, the police suspected that she knew their location and hoped that they were still alive. Investigators started to search the nearby lakes and ponds, including John D. Long Lake, where their bodies eventually were found. Initial water searches did not locate the car because the police believed it would be within 30 feet of the shore, and did not search farther; it turned out to be 122 feet from the shore. After the boys had been missing for two days, Smith and her estranged husband David were subjected to a polygraph test. The biggest breakthrough of the case was her description of the carjacking location. She had claimed that a traffic light had turned red causing her to stop at an otherwise empty intersection. However, it was determined that the light would not have turned red for her unless a vehicle was present on the intersecting road. This conflicted with her statement that she did not see any other cars there when the carjacking took place. Smith's defense psychiatrist diagnosed her with dependent personality disorder and major depression.
