Revisiting killer mom Susan Smith's 1994 case as she seeks parole

It's been nearly 30 years since a young South Carolina mother kicked off a nationwide frenzy by falsely claiming that a Black man had allegedly carjacked her and driven away with her two young sons in the car.

The tale that Susan Smith, then 23, told about the events of Oct. 25, 1994, sparked an intensive investigation and had the whole country hanging on her pleas.

"You guys have gotta be so strong," she said in one of many TV appearances. "I just feel in my heart that you're OK, but you gotta take care of each other."

Her husband, David Smith, believed her, and the couple presented a united front in the days after the incident.

"If the person who has mine and my wife's children see this, we come to you and we beg that you please do not hurt our children," he said. "Just find the compassion, find it somewhere in your heart to let them return home safely, and don't hurt 'em. You can take the car, whatever you want, just don't hurt our children."

For nine days, the community and country rallied behind the couple from the mill town of Union. Volunteers joined authorities to help search on the ground and from the air, with calls of support coming from all over the U.S.

"The idea of a white woman accusing a Black man of a crime where that man did not even exist harkens back to the times of Emmett Till, where an alleged crime that many people ultimately find never occurred or never occurred in that manner," Brian Buckmire, ABC News legal contributor and defense attorney, told "Impact x Nightline" of Susan's story.

"It's always the ability to kind of point to that bogeyman, point to that Black man that committed the crime," Buckmire said.

Behind the scenes, investigators were finding inconsistencies in Susan's story.

"It's hard to imagine that the car just vanished," Howard Wells, the Union County sheriff, said at the time. "So we're doing all that we can, backing ourselves up."

In 1994, investigators told ABC News they realized the carjacking could not have happened at the intersection where Susan said it did. The friend she was supposedly going to visit that night wasn't even home. During a lie-detector test, Susan had trouble answering the question: "Do you know where your boys are?"

On Nov. 3, investigators confronted Susan and she admitted to drowning her two sons -- 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander -- by strapping them in their car seats and letting the car roll into John D. Long Lake, just over 5 miles from Susan's home.

In her handwritten confession, Smith said she "was in love with someone very much," but that feeling wasn't reciprocated. She wrote that she decided to kill herself and her sons because she "didn't want them to grow up without a mom."

Three days after Smith's stunning admission, her husband David laid Michael and Alexander to rest.

Smith was charged with two counts of murder, and her parents hired a high-profile defense team that included Judy Clarke -- the attorney who'd later defend Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The prosecution was led by Tommy Pope, who is now a South Carolina state representative. He was early in his career when the Smith case came his way.

"I tried a lot of horrible cases, but the media component just took everything you would normally have in a case and put it on steroids," he said.

Unlike the OJ Simpson trial, which was happening at the same time in summer 1995, cameras weren't allowed in the courtroom.

Investigators reenacted the crime and played the video of the car slowing sinking before the court. One of the divers who found Susan's car at the bottom of the lake also testified, describing how he saw a small hand against the vehicle's window.

The jury also heard from Susan's former lover, Tom Findlay.

"Now you have someone saying 'Yeah, I was in this relationship with her and broke it off because I didn't want the responsibility of children,' " Sunny Hostin, co-host of "The View" and a former federal prosecutor, said of Findlay's testimony. "Now the finger's pointed directly at her. I think it gives her the intent."

Susan's defense focused on her mental health. She didn't testify, but her stepfather did -- admitting that he sexually abused her for years.

"Having her stepfather admit to grooming her, to abusing her as a teenager, to continuing to have a sexual relationship with his stepdaughter while she was married and had children," Hostin said. "And basically pleading for her life -- that is something that could sway a jury."

That jury found Susan guilty after just two hours of deliberation. The prosecution sought the death penalty, even persuading David Smith to take the stand. He told ABC's Barbara Walters why he favored the death penalty over a life sentence.

"I would like for Susan to sit in prison for the rest of her life and have to think about the selfish act that she did. But under South Carolina law, that's not an option. She would only go to prison for 20 or 30 years, and that's not enough," he said, referring to the point where Susan would be eligible for parole.

"I feel she doesn't deserve another chance in society. She gave up that right."

The jury ultimately decided that Susan should get a life sentence.

Nearly 30 years later, Susan is getting her first chance at parole in November. However, it's clear from court and prison records that she hasn't been a model prisoner.

In 2000, Susan had a sexual encounter with a prison guard named Alfred Rowe.

"I truly regret what I done," Rowe told "Impact x Nightline," before turning to Smith's upcoming parole hearing. "She's not ready to join society and be a law-abiding citizen again."

Court records show Smith had a sexual encounter with a second guard during her time behind bars. Both men were charged and lost their jobs. Rowe got probation for five years, while the other guard went to prison for three months.

Her prison records also reveal that she was sanctioned for drugs and mutilation.

In 2015, Smith wrote a letter to South Carolina newspaper The State claiming she wasn't in her "right mind" the night she killed Michael and Alexander. It's possible the 52-year-old will use this defense in her parole hearing.

Her ex-husband David has since remarried and has two more children. He hasn't spoken to Susan since shortly after her confession 30 years ago, but told Court TV earlier this month that he plans to attend the parole hearing. He had a message for Susan.

"I would just tell her -- that you have no idea of how much damage you have done to so many people," he said. "I would tell her that, in my capabilities, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay behind bars."

Tara Guaimano and Rachel Rosenbaum contributed to this report.

ABC News Studios' "IMPACT x Nightline: Killer Mom -- The Case of Susan Smith" streams on Hulu beginning Thursday, Sept. 19.