Susan Smith, who killed toddler sons: ‘I am not the monster society thinks’

TWENTY years after rolling her children into a lake in a car to drown, then lying about it, Susan Smith is looking for sympathy.

TWENTY years after rolling her children into a lake to drown, then lying about it, Susan Smith is looking for sympathy.

The South Carolina mother received life sentences in 1994 for the deaths of 14-month-old Alex Smith and three-year-old Michael Smith.

Smith, 43, sent a letter to The State newspaper, claiming — as she had in her trial — that she never planned to kill her two sons.

Grieving ... Ronnie Boyle and daughter Amanda, 3, pay tribute at John D Long Lake on November 5, 1994.

Life sentence ... Susan Smith is escorted into the Union County Courthouse in South Carolina. Picture: AP Photo/Lou Krasky

The letter, to journalist Harrison Cahill, was in response to a request for comment to mark the 20th anniversary of the children’s death, in October 2014. She says she did not receive the letter submitted by The State until November — after the paper’s deadline had passed.

‘Not motivated by affair’ ... Susan Smith was ‘hurt’ people thought she killed her children because of a man. Picture: Department of Corrections

“I imagine that was done on purpose,” Smith said. “I wanted to let you know that I would have most likely responded to your letter because I have (not) yet been able to speak on my behalf. It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself.”

Wednesday marked 20 years since her conviction, on July 22, 1995.

On October 25, 1994, Smith had told investigators she was stopped at a red light at an intersection on Main Street in the town of Union, when a black man forced her out of the car at gunpoint and drove off with her two small sons in the back. “Something went very wrong that night. I was not myself,” Smith said. “I was a good mother and I loved my boys ... There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. I was not in my right mind.”

‘I was a good mother’ ... Susan Smith confessed to killing her two sons.

Nine days later, Smith confessed to watching her car roll into John D Long Lake with both her sons strapped into the back seat. “The only reason I lied is because I didn’t know how to tell the people who loved Michael and Alex that they would never see them again,” Smith writes.

She had also planned her suicide, she adds. “I had planned to kill myself first and leave a note behind telling what had happened,” Smith writes. “I didn’t believe I could face my family when the truth was revealed.”

Initial reports suggested that Smith’s motivation for killing her children came after receiving a letter breaking off an affair with a man from her workplace. But Smith said that is a lie.

“The thing that hurts me the most is that people think I hurt my children in order to be with a man,” Smith said. “That is so far from the truth.”

“Mr Cahill, I am not the monster society thinks I am,” she wrote. “I am far from it.”

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263).