Murder of Susan Smith

In 1977, then-still Susan Daniels met Kenneth Smith, a local dealer of methamphetamine, PCP, and cocaine. He was 22 at the time, she was 15.[1] They were married by the time of a November 1979 arrest of Kenneth. By the mid-1980s, Susan had given birth to two children. However, the couple started to have a conflicted relationship, highly compromised by drug abuse. Susan and Kenneth eventually divorced, although they kept sharing their home with each other and their children.[3]

In 1987, an FBI agent named Mark Putnam began his first investigation in Pikeville, Kentucky.[3] His aim was to arrest a 32-year-old ex-convict and bank robber, Carl Edward "Cat Eyes" Lockhart, who was a friend of Kenneth Smith.[5] A local sheriff's deputy, Albert "Bert" Hartfield, recommended that his longtime friend Susan Smith visit Putnam to earn extra income and to help him with the case.[3] Smith and Putnam began to have frequent contact for the exchange of information about Lockhart's upcoming criminal plans. Lockhart was apprehended in December 1987 and the next year sentenced to 57 years in federal prison on charges of robbery.[1][6] Smith received US$5,000 (equivalent to $12,900 in 2022) for her contribution to the case.

According to Putnam, his contact with Smith became less frequent after Lockhart's case was closed. However, Smith insisted on continuing their relationship, and by mid-1988, they had begun an active sexual relationship. Putnam, however, was aware his behavior could damage his career and his family, and in early 1989, he signed a petition to be transferred from Kentucky to Florida, in order to focus on other cases. Still, in mid-1989 he had to return to complete an unrelated investigation. When he reached Kentucky, Smith contacted him about her pregnancy and told him the baby was his.[4] Putnam insisted he and his wife Kathy could adopt the baby but Smith refused.

On June 8, 1989, Putnam took Smith in his rental car to a clearing, and after a brief discussion and threats by both sides, they began to fight. At that time, Putnam strangled and killed Smith and placed her body in the trunk of his car.[4] The next day, he dumped Smith's body along an old coal mining road. Putnam left Kentucky and returned to his family in Florida. Three days later, Smith was reported missing by her sister, Shelby Ward.

In 1990, the investigation into Smith's death became an FBI matter, as Putnam was under suspicion for her disappearance. Putnam underwent a polygraph exam, which he failed. He subsequently confessed, pleaded guilty to strangling Smith,[4] and told authorities where to find her body.[3] That same year, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.[7]