Thirty years after she murdered her two young sons, Susan Smith will face a parole board Wednesday as she seeks release from prison.
Smith was sentenced to life in prison for killing 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex, who were strapped into their car seats when she drove her vehicle into a lake in Oct. 1994. While she initially claimed the boys were victims of carjacking and abduction, she later admitted to letting the car roll down a boat ramp and into the lake with the children inside.
At her 1995 trial, prosecutors said that Smith killed her children because she was having an affair with a wealthy man who ended the relationship because she had kids. While prosecutors asked for death, a jury sentenced her to life in prison.
The last three decades behind bars have not been uneventful for Smith. Jail records reviewed by Court TV list disciplinary issues dating back to 2010, including the use of marijuana. The most recent infraction was in August when she spoke with a journalist and was disciplined for not only granting interviews but receiving payment for them, as well.
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David Smith, Susan’s ex-husband and father of the victims, told Court TV’s Julie Grant in September that while he has granted Susan forgiveness, he does not want her released from prison.
“You have no idea of how much damage you have done to so many people,” David said.
Also opposed to Susan’s release is Alfred Rowe, a former prison guard who admitted having sex with Susan behind bars. Two corrections officers faced charges for their sexual relationships with the convicted killer.
While Susan was sentenced to life in prison, under the law she is eligible for release after 30 years. Tommy Pope, the prosecutor for Susan’s case, said the jury didn’t realize that when they handed down their sentence.
“In 1995, the jury could not be told that life didn’t mean life,” Pope told Julie Grant. “In other words, they were told, ‘Take life in your plain and usual meaning,’ so even afterward, the jurors were saying, ‘She’ll have to sit in prison, she’ll be remorseful about Michael and Alex, and she’ll be there the rest of her life.”
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The seven-member parole board will hear Susan’s case on Nov. 20, but the hearing will likely not last very long. The South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services’ parole board hears up to 65 cases per day. Susan will not appear in person at the hearing and instead will speak with the board via videoconference. Victims are invited to participate in person, virtually, by phone, by statement or by submitting a DVD.
To grant parole, Susan needs at least a two-thirds majority of the panel to approve her application. Before release, she would need to meet pre-release conditions, which include employment, residence, programming and detainers. If the board does not grant her application, she is allowed to have a hearing every two years. The board grants parole to approximately 8% of violent offenders, according to publicly available data.
Court TV’s Julie Grant will be live in Columbia for the parole hearing and will be joined by David Smith and Tommy Pope.
This story was originally published by Lauren Silver at Court TV.
