Susan Smith’s ex-husband, David Smith, vividly remembers the moment she admitted to killing their two young sons in 1994. Speaking with NBC’s Craig Melvin for an upcoming Dateline episode, David reflected on the cold nature of her confession.
“She just casually, like you and I sitting here, said ‘I’m sorry.’ And that was about as far as it went,” David recalled.
For David, the lack of emotion in her words has lingered for three decades. “I asked her ‘Why did you do this? Why?’ And she said, ‘I don’t know why, but I’m sorry,’” he continued.
The case, which shocked the nation, began on October 25, 1994, when Susan, then 23, told authorities that a Black man had carjacked her vehicle with her two sons, Michael, 3, and Alex, 14 months, inside. She pleaded on national television for their safe return, igniting a massive search effort.
Nine days later, her story fell apart. Susan ultimately admitted that there was no carjacker. Instead, she had let her car roll into a lake in Union, South Carolina, with her children still strapped into their car seats. Investigators determined that Susan’s motive stemmed from a relationship with a man who did not want children.
The case captivated the world and landed on the cover of PEOPLE magazine. Susan was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Three decades later, Susan remains incarcerated at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina. In November 2024, she was denied parole after serving 30 years.
“I know that what I did was horrible,” Susan told the parole board, according to CNN. “I am a Christian, and God is a big part of my life, and I know he has forgiven me… And I just ask that you show that same kind of mercy as well.”
David, however, made it clear before the hearing that he did not support her release. “I don’t think she’ll ever be rehabilitated,” he said on the Today show. “I don’t think she’s, even to me, she’s never been really sorry for what she did.”
Looking back, David wishes the jury had sentenced Susan to death instead of life in prison. “For myself, yes, because I wouldn’t have to be dealing with what’s coming up now,” he told Dateline. “I know that they said she had a tough life growing up, and I’ve never tried to make light of that, but you don’t kill your children for what happened to you. I wanted an eye for an eye, but the jury saw different.”
Despite his anger, David has found a way to forgive Susan. Speaking with Court TV in September 2024, he explained that his faith led him to that decision.
“Yes, I have forgiven her, but again, that goes to my faith in God and that's the way I was raised. That we have to forgive,” he said. “But it sure doesn't take away the act of what she did. It doesn't make it any less, it doesn't make it any easier. But I have forgiven her for what she did.”
David’s pain, however, remains as sharp as ever. His two sons, Michael and Alex, would now be adults—lives stolen by the mother who was supposed to protect them.
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