A killer mother who drowned her two sons in a South Carolina lake 30 years ago has claimed she would be a good stepmother and see herself around children again.
Susan Smith, 52, who was sentenced to life in prison, was heard saying a male admirer is corresponding with at least a half-dozen men behind bars.
With less than a year to go until her next parole hearing at the Leth Correction Facility in Greenwood, it has emerged that she welcomed the idea of becoming a mother again.
She told one of her suitors during a phone call last month that she “could see herself around children.” The messenger reported.
The admirer enthusiastically responded, “You’d be great, honey.” Smith’s next parole hearing is scheduled for November 2024.
Killer mother Susan Smith (pictured in an undated mugshot) has had many admirers in prison. She told one of her suitors during a phone call last month that she “could see herself around children,” The Messenger reported
Smith is serving a life sentence at Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, South Carolina for the double murder of her sons – Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months (pictured)
David Smith, the boy’s grieving father (pictured) is inconsolable as he is pictured receiving support from friends and family after the funeral of his two young sons
During her time behind bars, Smith has been busy exchanging email messages and phone calls with admirers.
At least eight men are trying to win Smith’s love and affection, the news channel reported.
Many of these suitors are in love with Smith and are eager to talk about it making future plans together when she is released on parole.
One offered her a car, while another invited her to stay with their family, the calls show.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections has been able to track all of these callers by identifying themselves by their first name and last initial.
Some of Smith’s family members were not surprised by her love life, which they described as “messy.”
‘That’s Susan for you. She has always had a messy love life. Some things do not change. But she seems to be happy,” said a family member.
The Messenger also obtained exchanges between Smith and a man who refers to her by the nickname “Pookie.”
“Dearest Pookie,” he wrote on August 13, “I have been thinking of you and missing you sooooo much. I hope I can do something for you soon… I love you so much it hurts, Your Pookie.”
But Smith’s prison history has not been all lovey-dovey and has been marred by offenses for drugs and self-harm, as well as two incidents in which she was caught having sex with guards.
On October 25, 1994, Smith strapped her two young sons into their car seats and watched the vehicle roll into a lake, drowning them.
It was claimed she committed the heartless crime after a man she had an affair with, Thomas Findley, broke up with him because he didn’t want children. She had had an affair with a man who did not want children.
On the day of the double murder, Smith told officers they had been taken by an unknown black man during a carjacking, and she cried on national television as she and her husband David begged for their safe return.
But her story quickly unraveled and she confessed to the gruesome crime.
Smith was sentenced to life in prison for two murders, but remained in trouble behind bars, receiving at least five misdemeanors for charges including self-harm and the use and possession of narcotics or marijuana.
Smith was punished twice in 2010 and once in 2015 after being caught with marijuana and narcotics.
She was initially incarcerated in Columbia, but had to be transferred to Leath after several sex scandals.
In 2000, at the age of 28, she was punished for having sex four times with 50-year-old prison guard Houston Cagle – who was later jailed for three months for the affair.
Smith confessed to the sexual encounter with Cagle after testing positive for an STD.
Law enforcement officers seen dressed in scuba gear while searching the waters of John D. Long Lake after Susan Smith drowned her two little boys on October 25, 1994
Mourners visit a shrine near the lake where Michael, 3, and Alexander, 14 months, were murdered. The boys were strapped into their car seats when the vehicle fell into the water and sank
Smith is led from the Union County Courthouse after the first day of testimony in the penalty phase of her trial. Smith was convicted of murdering her sons on October 25, 1994
The following year, prison captain Alfred Rowe was found to have had sex with her and he was sentenced to five years’ probation and discharged.
Former cellmate Stephanie Hulsey said that in addition to her male lovers, Smith also had a girlfriend.
Smith insists she is “not the monster society thinks I am” and revealed to reporters in 2015 that she had planned to kill herself, and not her sons, on the night of the tragedy.
“I was going to kill myself first and leave a note saying what happened,” Smith said. “I didn’t believe I could face my family when the truth came out.”
She also refuted claims that she had hurt her children by being with a man as “so far from the truth” and said she was not in her right mind at the time of the murders.
In 2012, she attempted suicide at the age of 40 after smuggling in a razor blade and having a long history of depression leading up to the murders.
Her stepfather, Beverly Russell, admitted during the first trial that he molested Smith as a teenager and had sex with her as an adult.
He mortgaged his house in part to pay for Smith’s defense at trial, saying she shouldn’t bear the blame alone.
Findley testified that it was Smith’s affair with Russell that sparked the murders after her husband David Smith found out and threatened to make it public.
Smith is due to face a parole hearing in November 2024, during which she will request a parole hearing, something her ex-husband opposes.