Susan Smith Asked for Gun, Confessed, Sheriff Testifies

Susan Smith asked the sheriff to pray with her, and when they were through, she asked for his gun so she could kill herself. When he refused, he recalled Monday, she said, “My children are not all right” and began to tell him how she had killed them.

During a hearing to determine the admissibility of statements Smith made to authorities, Union County Sheriff Howard Wells detailed how she broke down Nov. 3 in a room at the First Baptist Church and admitted drowning 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex.

Also Monday, the trial judge dismissed Gail Beam, 37, one of Smith’s jurors, and ordered her jailed for criminal contempt for failing to disclose she pleaded guilty last year to one count of federal check-kiting.

Wells said he tricked Smith into confessing by telling her that police knew she had not been a victim of a carjacking.

“I looked directly at her and I said to Susan, ‘This couldn’t have happened the way you said,’ ” Wells testified. “Susan was in a panic.”

Under questioning from defense attorney Judy Clarke, Wells said Smith took his hand and asked that they pray together.

“I told Susan . . . the Lord would lead us through this but it was time for it to be revealed,” Wells said. “After the prayer was over I told her it was time. She dropped her head and started crying.”

Wells said Smith cried so hard he worried she would hyperventilate.

“She made the statement at the time, ‘I’m so ashamed. I’m so ashamed,’ ” Wells said. “Then she asked me for my gun so she could shoot herself.”

Wells asked her why she wanted to kill herself.

“She said, ‘You don’t understand. My children are not all right,’ ” Wells said. “That was the first incriminating statement Susan made in my presence.”

Monday’s testimony was to determine whether jurors would be allowed to hear statements Smith made to investigators before confessing. Judge William Howard ruled they all were admissible.

The 12 jurors and one alternate, who have been sequestered, heard none of Monday’s testimony. Opening arguments were scheduled for today.