The case received nationwide attention. Based primarily on Huggins' ability to elicit a confession, Putnam pled guilty and was convicted of strangling is his pregnant informant, Susan Daniels Smith, in a fit of rage. The case also appears on Season 1 Episode 1 of the Investigation Discovery series Betrayed. Three days later, Smith was reported missing by her sister, Shelby Ward. Runyon, the Pike County commonwealth's attorney at the time, added that in his almost 30 years as a prosecutor, this was the first time that they encountered someone who wanted to confess to a homicide while the prosecution had absolutely no evidence. It appears there was ample evidence to proffer First Degree Murder Premeditation and Deliberation which might have been deliberately or inadvertently destroyed. I spent two years in prison and very quickly saw that if I had been black or brown I would still be there. [4] Putnam insisted he and his wife Kathy could adopt the baby but Smith refused. This story has been shared 402,023 times. In "Above Suspicion," Jack Huston plays real-life FBI Agent Mark Putnam and Emilia Clarke plays Susan Smith, the woman he murdered. [1][5] Smith received $5,000 (equivalent to over $11,000 as of 2020) for her contribution to the case.[6]. He soon met a girl from the nearby holler who worked as an informant. He soon met a girl from the nearby holler who worked as an informant. In October 1986, Putnam graduated from the FBI Academy and shortly thereafter, married Kathy Putnam, the daughter of a wealthy real estate developer. 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. Susan Smith. But Katheryn Sizemore, Kenneth Smiths landlady and a neighbor, said it is obvious they miss their mother. On June 16, Smith's sister Shelby Ward filed a missing person report after failing to find Smith. Susan Daniels Smith lived a life of poverty, violence and misery. In the statement, he recalled a bitter, violent argument with Ms. Smith about her pregnancy. I wonder if he would indeed have been doing this is he was black or would have resorted to reoffending. Did Goebbels help write this?? Have you paid for someone elses groceries when its obvious they are struggling? . Kathy's mother Carol claimed that what happened to Susan was simply "a crime of passion." This system is so broken and twisted in this entire country. 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, Runyon added. Susan did not once put her children first nor did Mark. [8][9], The case was the subject of The FBI Killer (1992), a book by American investigator Aphrodite Jones. Susan Daniels Smith, aka Sue Smith, the Pikeville, Kentucky, informant who was killed by her married lover, FBI Agent Mark Putnam, will have her story discussed again for the first time in many years on Betrayed, the new Investigation Discovery crime series. However, the history is too long of black men being wrongfully treated by the justice system. In early 1989, he requested and received a transfer to Miami, Florida (Kathy had hated Pikeville anyway). Shelby Ward told investigators that when she last spoke to her sister, Smith was waiting for Putnam to drive her home, The Mountain Eaglereports. Erin, it would do you good to read this article by Black Author Lipton Matthews: White Peoples War on Western Civilization https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/white-people-s-war-on-western-civ/. Watch the trailer here. Copyright 2023 The Inquisitr. In addition to the old 1994 movie about the case, there is also another movie that is in the works. We all know OJ did it! Its not racism. PerAssociated Press,prosecutor John Paul Runyon said thatwithout Putnam's confession, Pike County prosecutors had "absolutely no evidence. Thank you Irving, good read. He chose to kill her period. The 28-year-old woman, Putnams informant and lover, was reported to have been four months pregnant when she was strangled on June 8, 1989, but medical examiners officials say they have yet to find any trace of a fetus. I hear you Erin. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. If they admit to having an affair with the first wife, Id cross him off. The couple divorced in the mid-1980s. How many times have you actively helped an underprivileged community? Her worried sister, Shelby, with whom she had a close relationship knew that the last person her sister was going to see was FBI agent Mark Putnam. When a key FBI informant disappears, her sister becomes convinced that the married agent who paid the woman for information -- and had an illicit affair with her -- also was her killer. According to The New York Post, the cause was likelyfrom her alleged alcoholism. Mark Steven Putnam was born on July 4, 1959, in Coventry, Connecticut, to Barbara and Walter. Huh???? Putnam, 30, of Sunrise, Fla., entered a guilty plea to one count of felony manslaughter in Ms. Smith's death. We are all family, good and bad we are the same! Yupp. People may remember it especially since a movie was made about it in the 1990s titled Betrayed By Love. This guy had zero criminal record prior and was considered a model prisoner while serving his sentence. Pike Co. informant's killing featured on Investigation Discovery He confessed because of a guilty conscience which caused him health problems. Smith, a mother of two from Freeburn, had been working with the FBI as an informant with an agent named Mark Putnam. Immediately after the hearing, Putnam was handcuffed and taken into custody by Kentucky State Police officers. He said he placed the body in the trunk of his rented car and dumped it the following evening off an old coal mine road about nine miles north of Pikeville. . Why does the race card have to be thrown into every situation? [5], Despite being sentenced to 16 years in prison, Putnam served only 10 years due to good behavior, and was described as a "model inmate". Being an informant was a fairly common phenomenon in the area during this time although the pay was low and the risk was high. I read all the comments and found it entertaining, but if you watched the movie or read the book you would know why he got 18 years. Good read, Irving! And it should. She did not deserve to die over being insulted & upset. What a great (in)justice system we have. The Old Crime is New Again newsletter is a monthly email covering a topic that has not appeared in the blog. They used her and they killed her and they dumped her out like a bag of garbage.. Putnam said he and his wife would adopt the child but Ms. Smith refused, and began slapping Putnam. For Christmas, she bought Putnam expensive running shoes and a Nike shirt a big no-no for an FBI informant. To date, he is the only FBI agent convicted of homicide. Bringing race into this is like saying 6% of the population (black males) are responsible for 48% of all violent crimes: Source: Department of Justice Statistics year in year out. Putnam, who already had been transferred to Miami, dumped the body off a coal mine road in the eastern Kentucky hills and returned to his wife and two children. After leaving it there for a day while he drove around, Putnam left the body by an old coal mining road the following evening. What is the point of stating this? But poor white men are treated no better! No ifs or buts about it. During this time, Mark continued working at his clerical position at the FBI, and at the beginning of 1986, he took the entrance exam for the FBI Academy. Susan Daniels Smith lived a life of poverty, violence and misery. All this talk about his skin color determining the amount of time he had to serve is absurd! Southern Fried True Crime: 67: The Killing of FBI Informant Susan Susan and Kenneth married in the late 1970s and would have two children together before divorcing. Susan Daniels Smith, 28, dropped out of sight last June after threatening to expose the two-year affair and her pregnancy to the agent's wife, said sister Shelby Ward. I didnt believe it was possible until I watched it happen regularly with my own eyes. Susan Daniels Smith was 27 and pregnant when FBI agent Mark Putnam strangled her to death on June 8, 1989, in Pike County. After Mark Putnam was able to gain Susan Smith's trust, they started meeting two to three times every week. She was strangled at age 28 by her handler and lover, a FBI Agent. Watching the movie it does seem like manslaughter, and if that was correct then 16 years is an appropriate sentence. He lives in Georgia, is remarried, and works as a personal trainer. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. And before long, police were using their own informants to piece together the story, especially after the revelation that one of them was staying in the same motel as Putnam the very night that Smith disappeared. But according to "Above Suspicion," Kenneth came into the meeting with a list of demands for Putnam, asking for a weekly salary in addition to being given protective custody and having his probation removed. And this wasn't murder in the line of dutythis was a crime of passion. Updated. Ive read all of the court paperwork. Its not as if there are any similar cases regarding black FBI agents. In exchange, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. And although he was still on probation for robbing a bank, Putnam believed that Lockhart immediately went back to his old profession upon being released from prison. He didnt even confess until after a year, after being a suspect and after a failed polygraph test. He was 22 at the time, she was 15. And by his own admission, Putnam is the only person responsible for that. Jolene thats an interesting point. Some of the money will be put into a trust fund for Smiths children--Meranda Lynn, 8, and Brady, 5--she said. Susan was the 5th of 9 children. I think it was her fingernail, but Im not sure. He soon met a girl from the nearby holler who worked as an informant. Murder of Susan Smith - Wikipedia Yes, he killed her, but he was also a model inmate and had not once received any disciplinary incidents. His attorney, Pat Molloy of Lexington, said she and the children visit him regularly at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn. Major Source: Above Suspicion by . They met frequently to exchange information about Lockharts activities and plans. On June 8, 1989, Susan Daniels Smith was killed in the Pikeville area. Tim Putnam, an employee for the Connecticut Legislature, said that his mother talks to Mark about every two weeks, but that he has not heard from him since Christmas. I remember when the story broke, being in the next town over, at the age of 12. He said that he and his wife would adopt the baby. Have you got friend together to paint or repair a him? A film adaptation of this book, Above Suspicion, was released on June 20, 2019, starring Emilia Clarke as Susan Smith, and Jack Huston as Mark Putnam.[10][11]. He was trained to deal with high stresses being an FBI agent and should be held to an even higher standard than anyone else because of this fact. Why?, She said she did not think Putnam wanted to kill Smith, but rather that he was pushed to it. Putnam and Susan met in the spring of 1987. Even the polygraph test wasn't admissible in court. He soon met a girl from the nearby holler who worked as an informant. In 1987, an ambitious rookie FBI agent came to Pikeville, Kentucky for his first posting out of the academy. . Some people have suggested that he confessed to the slaying to hide something worse from authorities, but his younger brother, Tim Putnam, said he believes that Mark just could not bear the guilt. But the sister of Susan Daniels Smith--the woman Putnam strangled, the woman whose body he hid for 12 months while her family agonized over her disappearance--is not. The guy did 10 years, which is well above the average for time served in his situation. It is believed that the affair broke her heart. An affair that eventually ended when Putnam strangled Smith. One of the news outlets had a camera set up in the basement of an AME church where those good Christian folk breathlessly awaited the verdict. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The new episode of "The Perfect Suspect," which airs at 9 p.m. Thursday on Investigation Discovery, focuses on the 1989 death of FBI informant Susan Daniels Smith in Pike County. Mark walked the yard and caused 0 problems. What would you do if someone were banging your head in the concrete and you had a weapon? 67: The Killing of FBI Informant Susan Daniels Smith - Spreaker They were not concerned about Justice being served; they only wanted the Black man to be found not guilty. How nice for him. Putnam was the first FBI agent to be charged in a homicide.[4]. Matewan is at the heart of the area embroiled in the infamous nineteenth century Hatfield-McCoy feud. He placed Susan in the trunk of his rental car. There is a wikipedia entry named "Murder of Susan Smith" about her case. Putnam was the oldest of three children, and while Barbara worked taking care of the children, Walter worked as a truck driver for Sears, according to "The FBI Killer" by Aphrodite Jones. Susan Smith Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her? Mark Putnam: Love and Murder in Appalachia - George Pallas 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. The story of slain FBI informant Susan Smith of Pikeville will be featured on an episode of the new series The Perfect Suspect, which airs at 9 p.m. Thursday on Investigation Discovery. Im not white and I have to roll my eyes to that foolish question! Neighbors in Freeburn, Ky., say the children appear to be living happily with their father. He used Ms. Smith as an informant in a bank robbery and car theft case. News Chant reports that Putnam put Smith's body in the trunk of his car. 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. In his later confession, Putnam claimed they only had quickies in his car. He was a model prisoner inside. Susan Daniels Smith lived a life of poverty, violence and misery. What a weird thing to say in this situation. The Killing of FBI Informant Susan Daniels Smith Southern Fried True There are various accounts as to whether he approached her first or she approached him first. r/TrueCrimeDiscussion - Murder of Susan Daniels Smith at the hands of As far as Michael Brown, that gentle giant, the only way his DNA and blood splatter couldve gotten on the inside of the police cruiser was he was sticking his hand in there trying to get the officers weapon. Smith, a mother of two from Freeburn, had been working with the FBI as an informant with an agent named Mark Putnam. Regardless, the two of them got together at some point, and Putnam took them for a drive. And now to, you know, see her in a movie, you know, about my hometown-even though it was a dark part of our towns history, said local man and Riverfill 10 employee Jonathan Collins. He murdered a woman in cold blood with his bare hands and he only had to serve 10 years. Meanwhile, "The FBI Encyclopedia" writes that Mark continued establishing himself as a productive agent for the Bureau. Sign up for the newsletter today. Susan Daniels Smith went missing in 1989 at the age of 28. A year later, apparently racked by guilt, he offered to lead authorities to her body. He told me that the day that it happened- and he didnt know this at the time, but afterwards he knew- the day it happened Mark Putnam actually came to Post 9 with the woman in the trunk of his car dead, Harris said. Regardless of where they met, the two continued their affair. But this narrative of being stricken with guilt ultimately plays into the idea that Putnam is a noble man who "snapped" because a woman pushed him too far and was so remorseful that he felt compelled to confess. The affair with Susan Smith ruined his marriage. [1] They married in the late 1970s, and soon after Kenneth was arrested on November 27, 1979. May 10, 2021 7:20pm. While visiting Pikeville to wrap up a case, Putnam took Smith on a drive to Peter Creek Mountain one night.
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