Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 16, 1995 TAG: 9501250016
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
Susan V. Smith is charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex.
For nine days she maintained that a carjacker had taken her car and her boys on Oct. 25. She and her estranged husband, David, made televised pleas for their return.
The boys' bodies were found in her car, submerged in John D. Long Lake near Union, 60 miles northwest of Columbia, after police said they had obtained a written confession from her.
Solicitor Tommy Pope, who is prosecuting the case, said last week he would not reveal his decision on whether to seek the death penalty until a court hearing today.
But Smith's lawyer, David Bruck, said at a news conference Sunday that Pope told him Friday of his decision to seek capital punishment if she's convicted.
Pope told The Associated Press he would not comment or confirm Bruck's statement.
Bruck added that Pope intends to have Smith arraigned at today's hearing. There had been no previous word on the scheduling of her arraignment. Bruck refused to elaborate.
In her two-page confession, Smith said she had been suicidal and ``emotionally distraught'' over unrequited love when she let her car with her sons inside roll down a boat ramp into the lake.
Smith, who was divorcing her husband, said she felt she could not be a good mother, ``but I didn't want my children to grow up without a mom. I felt I had to end our lives to protect us all from any grief or harm.
``My children, Michael and Alex, are with our Heavenly Father now, and I know that they will never be hurt again. As a mom, that means more than I can say,'' she wrote.
Since her arrest, Smith has been held without bail. No trial date has been set.
by CNB