ATLANTA (Court TV) — With the possibility of parole on the horizon for Susan Smith, her ex-husband sat down with Court TV to talk about what he would say to his ex-wife, who drowned their two toddler sons 30 years ago.
“You have no idea of how much damage you have done to so many people,” David Smith told Court TV’s Julie Grant this week.
Visitors walk down the ramp where Alex and Michael Smith were drowned in a car in 1994 in Union, S.C., on Sunday, July 9, 1995. Their mother, Susan Smith, will go on trial on Monday on charges she drowned the children by driving her car into John D. Long lake. (AP Photo/Lou Krasky)
As for Susan’s parole eligibility, David says he’s unsure if he’ll formally write something down or speak from the heart but wants to remind the parole board of “what she did and who the victims were in this case. Certainly not her,” David said.
The victims were the couple’s three-year-old son, Michael, and 14-month-old son, Alex. The toddlers were still strapped into their car seats when Susan’s car was found submerged in a Union County lake in Oct. of 1994.
Susan initially lied to police, saying she’d been carjacked while stopped at a red light by a Black man who drove off with the boys inside. That never happened. Instead, a massive nine-day search for the kids took place, during which Susan sat next to David, making desperate pleas on television for their safe return.
MORE | Prison guard who had sex with Susan Smith opposes killer mom’s release
Susan’s story quickly began to unravel to investigators, leading to her admission that there was no carjacking and that she had allowed her vehicle to roll into the lake before jumping out. She claimed the murders were not premeditated and that she had been dealing with a mental health crisis.
The story became international news as a possible motive was uncovered that Susan had been having an affair with a wealthy older man who didn’t want children, even landing her on the cover of PEOPLE magazine .
David and Susan Smith arrive at the Union County Sheriff’s office in Union, S.C., Thursday, Oct. 27, 1994. Susan Smith said their children were kidnapped Tuesday night after a carjacker took her car at gunpoint and told her to get out but would not release her children. In July 1995, Susan Smith was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found her guilty of drowning her two sons. (AP Photo)
At her 1995 trial, Susan’s defense team tried to convince the jury that their client, in an episode of depression, drove to the edge of the lake in a suicide attempt but that her body willed itself out of the vehicle. But the jury didn’t buy it, and on July 22, 1995, she was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Now 52, Susan believes she’s spent enough time in prison. She will become eligible for parole for the first time on Nov. 4. The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) calculates and publishes inmate parole eligibility dates, but the exact date of her parole hearing has yet to be decided by the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Court TV has been approved to provide televised coverage when that date is set.
Susan reached out to her ex-husband in hopes of garnering his support. In his exclusive interview with Court TV, David said that he had forgiven his ex-wife because of his faith in God and his upbringing, but that it “doesn’t take away the act of what she did” and that he will do anything in his capabilities to make sure she stays behind bars.
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