Susan Smith Is Denied Parole 30 Years After Drowning Her Sons. Her Ex-Husband Spoke Out Before Hearing

Mar. 15, 2025

Susan Smith wipes away a tear during a parole hearing on Nov. 20.Photo:Getty

Getty

Susan Smith, the South Carolina mother convicted of killing her two children in 1994, was denied parole on Wednesday, Nov. 20,ABC,NBCandThe Washington Postreport.

Susan appeared before the parole board Wednesday morning, saying, “I know that what I did was horrible,”CNN reports.

Prior to her hearing, on Wednesday morning, Smith’s husband discussed his feelings towards Susan. In an interview withtheTodayshowon Wednesday,David Smithsaid he doesn’t think Susan should be granted parole after serving 30 years of a life sentence over the drowning deaths of their two sons, who were ages 3 and 14 months, saying it “wasn’t an accident” and that she “deliberately killed” the boys.

“I don’t think she’ll ever be rehabilitated,” he told the news outlet. “I don’t think she’s, even to me, she’s never been really sorry for what she did.”

The story became international news and was featured on thecover of PEOPLE. Susan was convicted of two counts of murder in 1995 and is serving a life sentence in Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood, S.C.

David also recounted the dark thoughts he had in the courtroom throughout Susan’s trial, telling theTodayshow that he “used to sit there and look at the back of her head and then look at where the bailiffs were, the officers were and think about killing her,” per the outlet.

Susan Smith.Mug Shot

She was alsodisciplined for having sexwith a prison guard, Houston Cagle, in 2000 and a prison captain, Alfred Rowe, the following year. (Cagle pleaded guilty and spent three months in jail and Rowe also pleaded guilty to having sex with Smith and was sentenced to five years probation.)

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In 2015, Susan, who claimed she was misunderstood, defended herself in a letter toThe State, a South Carolina newspaper.

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

David Smith holding a photo of his two sons in 1995.Ruth Fremson/AP

Ruth Fremson/AP

source: people.com