Susan Smith Net Worth

Net Worth	$ 10,000,000
Real name	Susan Leigh Vaughan Smith
Source of Wealth	Inheritance
Profession	/
Spouse/Partner	David Smith (Divorced)
Date of Birth	Sep 26, 1971
Zodiac	Libra
Age	51
Gender	Female
Height	173 cm / 5 ft 8 inch
Nationality	American

Biography

Susan Smith is an American woman convicted of murdering her two sons by drowning them in a South Carolina lake in 1994. As of 2023, her net worth is estimated at $10 million.

Early life

Susan Smith (ex. Vaughan) was born on September 26, 1971, to parents Linda Sue Harrison and Harry Ray Vaughan. Susan’s mother, Linda, filed for divorce, and when Susan was only six years old, her father committed suicide.

As a result, when Susan was only 13, she attempted suicide but failed. Her mother soon remarried a man called Beverly Russell, who was a member of the Christian Coalition local chapter. Beverly molested Susan since she was still a teenager, and their sexual relationship continued for as long as six months before the murders took place.^[1]

While Susan was in high school, she was dating a married man. When the relationship came to an end, Susan attempted suicide once again.

She started dating David Smith, who would soon be her husband. In 1990, Susan found out she was pregnant, and even though both families had issues with them being together, the couple married. Their marriage was quite toxic, and they separated on multiple occasions, one of the reasons being due to mutual cheating allegations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeWvSnLJm7k

Events leading to the murders

While Susan was still married to David Smith, she had an affair with the owner's son at her workplace, Tom Findlay. Considering all evidence, Susan was in love with him and attempted all sorts of things to keep him around.

When Tom officially broke off their affair, Susan started showing up at his office and had to be kicked out. She would also call restaurants where he was with some of their coworkers and ask them on the phone if Tom had mentioned her.

In the couple of days before the murders took place, David found a letter from Tom addressed to Susan, where Tom stated that he didn’t want to see her anymore for multiple reasons, the main one being because she had two children.

In the letter, he told her she wasn’t behaving appropriately for a mother and a woman of her age, and he didn’t consider her a woman for a long-term relationship. He praised her will to go back to night school and get a college degree, but he wanted to end things peacefully.

When David found the letters, he knew she had been cheating on him, and they had a massive fight. They had already discussed divorce, but it was bound to happen after this occurrence.

On October 25, 1994, Susan Smith went around town looking for Tom; she showed up at their office, went by his house, and even called multiple coworkers to ask about his whereabouts to get back together with him. When she finally realized that Tom wouldn’t come back and her marriage was gone, she drove her two children to John D. Long Lake in her car, parked by the shore, left the car in neutral, and got out of the car.

Her sons were stranded in their baby seats in the back of the car. She ran to the nearest house crying hysterically that a black man had hijacked her car with her babies inside. She appeared on national TV for nine days straight, playing the role of a grieving mother with David by her side.

On November 3, 1994, Susan Smith confessed she drowned her children in the car. When Tom’s letter was considered a motive, she claimed she had no motive and didn’t plan for the murders to happen, with intent to go for the insanity defense.^[2]

The trial

In 1995, the trial for Susan Smith took place. Her counsel claimed she wanted to commit suicide with her sons in the car, but her body washed ashore, but the prosecution strongly argued that this was done in an attempt to end her children’s lives in an attempt to get her lover back. The lead prosecutor strongly argued in favor of the death penalty as well.

Beverly Russell confessed on the stand to having molested her since a young age, claiming that his wrongdoings culminated in her becoming mentally ill. Many critics think that he only confessed to these crimes to avoid the death penalty.^[3]

The jury came to a unanimous decision in only two and half hours that Susan was, in fact, guilty, but they didn’t vote in favor of the death penalty. Susan was sentenced to 30 years with the chance for parole.

In November 2024, Smith will be eligible for parole.

Other controversies

While Susan was incarcerated, she attempted to commit suicide by cutting her wrists but survived. While in prison, she reportedly started self-harming severely.^[4]

In addition, two correctional officers were charged with having a sexual relationship with her, and she was moved to a different correctional facility.

Conclusion

Susan Smith is the worldwide famous monster mom who murdered her two sons in 1994 by drowning them in a lake.

Her case has gotten a lot of media coverage around the globe, and she will be eligible for parole in November 2024.

As of 2023, Susan’s net worth is estimated at $10 million.

References