The case received nationwide attention. According to The NewYork Post, Putnam was so wracked with guilt that he felt compelled to confess. Glad to see race was brought up when it has nothing to do with this case. His mother and daddy were not married; he had no strong father figure to teach him any better. [4] The next day, he dumped Smith's body along an old coal mining road. What a great (in)justice system we have. Susan Smith 's former cellmates and a prison guard who had sex with her are speaking out about the infamous woman's checkered time behind bars . All this talk about his skin color determining the amount of time he had to serve is absurd! This story has been shared 402,023 times. He laughed about it on TV in an interview even. Whatever justice was served, whether it was enough or not, will be served later by God and he has to live with himself. TheFBI has been responsible for the deaths of countless people since its inception, including noted Black activistFred Hampton. All rights reserved. Some of the money will be put into a trust fund for Smiths children--Meranda Lynn, 8, and Brady, 5--she said. From last weeks mob murder in Beverly Hills, we travel to Pikeville, Kentucky. But when he wasn't playing sports, Putnam became more introverted and was "extremely shy and private.". Jim Huggins says that Above Suspicion, Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Sharkey's book on the Mark Putnam murder case, is an accurate account of the events that resulted in the murder of Susan Smith, Putnam's pregnant informant. Those are the facts, regardless of the bullcrap people tend to spread. People dont say this out of white guilt, they say it because they either believe black people or they have witnessed it first hand like I have. As a Black friend of mine said, Those boys were thugs and they deserved to die. Neighbors in Freeburn, Ky., say the children appear to be living happily with their father. LoL. Susan Daniels Smith lived a life of poverty, violence and misery. Putnam and Susan met in the spring of 1987. We've received your submission. And according to " Above Suspicion ," there was a lot of money to be given out to informants. It took Putnam a year to admit that he was responsible for Smith's murder, and even then, it occurred after he failed a polygraph test. ", According to the Los Angeles Times, medical examiners claimed that they were unable to find "any trace of a fetus" duringan autopsy on Smith, who was reportedly four months pregnant. Due to good behavior, Mark Putnam was released from prison in 2000 after serving 10 years out of his 16-year sentence. Susan dropped out of school in seventh grade due to her family's financial difficulties. This threw Smith into a violent rage. Putnam appeared tense during his 20-minute appearance in Pike County Circuit Court. An affair that eventually ended when Putnam strangled Smith. r/TrueCrimeDiscussion - Murder of Susan Daniels Smith at the hands of . How nice for him. She was poor and uneducated but for Gods sake, she could have gotten help and tried to change. Sad, but true. A movie by the same name was filmed in and around Lexington and Harlan in 2016 starring Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones as Smith. All Rights Reserved. Mark Putnam: Love and Murder in Appalachia - George Pallas AGENT WHO KILLED LOVER ENDS SENTENCE - Hartford Courant He flew into West Virginia when he had business in Lexington, Jones said. Movie crew scouting central Kentucky for locations - WLKY 67: The Killing of FBI Informant Susan Daniels Smith from Southern He was a model prisoner inside. Probable killer of 2, convicted robber, African American- plays golf and smirks for the camera. Putnam was to gather evidence to convict Lockhart. Susan Daniels Smith: 'Betrayed' Mark Putnam, FBI Killer Of Pregnant Even the polygraph test wasn't admissible in court. The two of them reportedly drove up to Peter Creek Mountain on June 8, 1989, where Smith informed Putnam that she was pregnant and asked for financial support. According to Lexington Herald-Leader, he is possibly working in the Georgia area as a personal trainer. This is how the unlikely coupling of Mark and Susan started. So many people who throw racism accusations out should look at themselves first. Two points to touch on. Susan Smith's parents had first moved to Freeburn, Kentucky when she was an infant, where she continued her education till the 7th grade and dropped out consequently due to financial problems. I remember Diane Downs, 1980s, the mother of three children who shot them because her new boyfriend wouldnt get serious with her because he didnt want to be involved with someone with kids. He is adjusting. In what he called an act of extreme rage, he began choking her. In 1990, the investigation into Smith's death became an FBI matter, as Putnam was under suspicion for her disappearance. Susan Daniels Smith Murder, The Genre. Its an old case that happened in 1989. The pay, however, for an FBI . Its sad that you rob a bank Cat Eyes and you get nearly 60 years thanks to Susan Daniels Smith, But you murder a PREGNANT informant and you only do 10 years? On the one hand, she seemed to have the idea that it was like a regular job, and Mark was her boss, Kathy says in Sharkeys book. Murder of Susan Smith - Wikipedia In 1987, an ambitious rookie FBI agent came to Pikeville, Kentucky for his first posting out of the academy. This coward took away a young mother from young kids over a lie + his temper. In "Above Suspicion," Joe Sharkey writes that before long, Mark amassed a network of informants and started thinking of himself as a "streetwise crime-fighter who was living the life that he had always dreamed about." The affair with Susan Smith ruined his marriage. It is believed that the affair broke her heart. Shes telling me in the dream not to worry about her, that she was doing fine.. One year into his 16-year sentence, the only FBI agent ever charged with a homicide is coming to grips with life in prison. Well now. PerAssociated Press,prosecutor John Paul Runyon said thatwithout Putnam's confession, Pike County prosecutors had "absolutely no evidence. That is what every vocal or keyboard social-justice-warriors can do that actually helps the world instead trying to look pious. Sentenced to 16 years in prison, he served 10. I hear you Erin. After some false leads, they focused in on Carl Edward Cat Eyes Lockhart, a local eccentric and repeat offender who had a pesky habit of wildly spending his loot. In 1977, Susan Smith met Kenneth Smith, a local dealer of methamphetamine, PCP, and cocaine. Putnam was given a polygraph test, which is also known as a lie detector test. Susan Daniels Smith l He was a man with a big secret. That film was finally released during the pandemic. Do the research. He used Ms. Smith as an informant in a bank robbery and car theft case. I spent two years in prison and very quickly saw that if I had been black or brown I would still be there. Is 'Above Suspicion' (2019) Movie Based On A True Story? "Susan, too [] There's a lot of things I've not told the press things that my sister told me. Not one scintilla or shred of evidence to bring a charge or convict this man., In the 28 years that I have been a prosecutor, this is the first experience that I have had where a lawyer called me on a telephone and said, I have a man who wants to confess to murder, or homicide, and wants to go to the penitentiary, and we had absolutely no evidence.. Meet the Smiths by Best of SWLA Susan Daniels Smith: 'Betrayed' Mark Putnam, FBI Killer Of Pregnant Informant Found Dead In Pikeville, Kentucky, Subject Of New Crime Series On ID by Inquisitr Former FBI Agent Pleads Guilty To Slaying Kentucky Woman by AP News Former FBI agent from Coventry due for release from prison by Journal Inquirer Putnam, who resigned Friday, worked in Pikeville for about two years until his transfer to Miami in May 1989. Your email address will not be published. While some claim that Putnam confessed to draw attention away from something worse, his brother insists that he simply "just couldn't bear the guilt. Kathy's mother Carol claimed that what happened to Susan was simply "a crime of passion." Although he wasn't often there, Smith built up a rapport with the officers in the probation and marshal's divisions, according to Joe Sharkey. The case, which caught the attention of local and national news outlets, was the first reported instance of an FBI agent committing homicide. Although Mark Putnam was now based in Miami, Florida, he returned to Pikeville in the summer of 1989 to tie up a car theft case that he had been working on. This was truly a sad story, FBI agent Mark Putnam was taught better. Films based on a true story often take far too many liberties with the truth. Thanks for contacting us. And once that $5,000 was used, there wasn't really any upper limit. Copyright 2023 The Inquisitr. Huh???? They had wanted him to stand trial for murder. Murder of Susan Daniels Smith at the hands of FBI agent Mark Putnam