COLUMBIA, S.C. — Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who killed her two young children almost 30 years ago, has run afoul of state prison policies after the agency said she communicated with a media outlet about proposed interviews, filming a documentary and getting paid for it.
Smith is serving life in prison at Leath Correctional Institution near Greenwood after being convicted of killing her two young sons -- three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander -- in 1994. After serving 30 years, she will be eligible for parole on Nov. 4, 2024.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) incident report from Aug. 26, 2024, shows Smith was the subject of an internal investigation at Leath and was found to have misused and abused the phone and tablet system inmates use to communicate with a reporter. According to the document, conversations included discussing conducting an interview, possibly filming a documentary and ways Smith could be compensated. Smith also said she would provide contact information for her friends and family, even her ex-husband, for the documentary and stated a preference for the release of the documentary after her parole hearing. The agency said she also had money deposited into her "Calls and Canteen" account.
SCDC charged Smith with communication with a victim or witnesses of a crime. This is not a criminal charge but an internal disciplinary conviction. She was found guilty at an internal hearing on Oct. 3 and lost her telephone, tablet and canteen privileges for 90 days, starting Oct. 4.
Inmates are not allowed to conduct interviews on the telephone or in person—they are permitted to write letters—and are issued tablets that are secured for correctional use. Tablets are considered a privilege and are used for monitored phone calls and electronic messages.
According to SCDC spokeswoman Chrysti Shain, the disciplinary charges against Smith will not affect the Nov. 4 date for her parole consideration. South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services will schedule a hearing for Smith, usually a month or two after the eligibility date.
In 1994, Smith gained international attention after she made a false claim that a Black man had kidnapped her sons during a carjacking. In reality, Smith had placed her sons in her car and drove it into John D. Long Lake in Union County, drowning the boys. She confessed on Nov. 3, 1994, that she had murdered the boys because she was trying to maintain an extramarital relationship with a man who allegedly did not want children and wanted to end the affair.
Smith was convicted of murder in July 1995.
While in prison, she slept with two correctional officers in 2000 and 2001 and was transferred from Columbia to Greenwood following those incidents. She has also been disciplined for other offenses, including drug use, mutilation, and unauthorized use of another inmate's personal identification number.