Susan Smith

Susan Vaughan Smith (born September 26, 1971), of Union, South Carolina, was convicted 1995 of murdering her two sons (3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex), and is now serving a life sentence. She is due for parole in 2005.

The case gained national attention because she initially told police (on October 24, 1994) that she had been carjacked by an African-American man and that her sons were still in the car when the man drove off. For over a week, Smith made tearful pleas on television for the return of her children. However, she finally confessed to having rolled the car herself into a nearby pond, drowning her children inside.