She did not deserve to die over being insulted & upset. Smith and Putnam's verbal argument turned physical, and he ended up strangling her. Well, he was white and also an FBI agent, so he had that going for him too. He pleads to a lesser crime. Everyone complaining about his sentence. But according to Sharkey, while Putnam was away, Susan began fabricating a more involved two-year relationship between them and shouting about it from the rooftops. She said she would tell the FBI, my family and the newspapers, Putnams statement said. This is how the unlikely coupling of Mark and Susan started. The family rarely talks about the case publicly, Tim Putnam said. In this case, the murderer wasnt a poor white man, and he was kind of an elite government employee. It was a crime of passion.. We are all family, good and bad we are the same! Kenneth was a drug dealer when the two of them met, and soon they were using drugs together. But Mark, far from being deterred, instead put all of his energy into his new position, convinced that the best way to get a promotion was to "compile an impressive arrest record.". The two physically fought, and Putnam strangled Smith. "Susan, too [] There's a lot of things I've not told the press things that my sister told me. From last weeks mob murder in Beverly Hills, we travel to Pikeville, Kentucky. Whats your point ? The boyfriends panicked and murdered the girls (they were all teenagers). They get a conviction and her family got her body to bury. His decision to confess likely wasn't just remorse; he appears to have realized that he'd finally been caught. Susan Daniels Smith went missing in 1989 at the age of 28. He said he knew some things on Mark Putnam that was awful . Ward said FBI Agent Ron Poole, who was Putnams superior and knew about the pregnancy, had talked with her about Putnam. She was strangled by her handler and lover, FBI agent Mark Putnam. I felt sorry everyones children. Based on a true story. Published on July 9, 2021 11:53 AM. Offers may be subject to change without notice. In 1987, an ambitious rookie FBI agent came to Pikeville, Kentucky for his first posting out of the academy. The icing on the cake was when president Obama declared Treyvon Martin was the son he never had. The reason George Z. was found innocent by a racially diverse jury was because he was simply protecting his life from having his head bashed into the concrete sidewalk. The man had confessed to strangling his lover Susan Smith, who not only worked for him as an informant, but was said to be carrying his unborn child. He disposed of the body after the killing . 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. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. One year into his 16-year sentence, the only FBI agent ever charged with a homicide is coming to grips with life in prison. But she never even tired and her children paid the ultimate price and so did Marks. Two years before Mark was released from prison, his wife Kathy Putnam died suddenly from organ failure at the age of 38. Im not saying Larry Miller should be prosecuted and Im not defending Mark Putnams disgusting actions, all Im saying that your comment about gee this wouldnt happen with anyone but a white guy is ridiculous. That partnership, according to reports, soon became an affair. In his written confession, Putnam said he strangled Smith in a fit of rage because she was threatening to tell his wife and superiors that she was carrying his child. 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. By all accounts, Susan Smith fell head over heels for the FBI agent. Hes a wonderful man, her mother Carol Ponticelli told the Hartford Courant when he was let out of prison. 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. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Irving, I just read the article you linked to and wow was it enlightening. Have you paid for someone elses groceries when its obvious they are struggling? He laughed about it on TV in an interview even. Soon Susan Smith was dead. Working as a telephone switchboard operator during night shifts and weekends, Jones writes in "The FBI Killer" that Mark rarely talked to his superiors and exchanged only polite and casual greetings if he did. Its a woman who lost her life. They met frequently to exchange information about Lockharts activities and plans. On June 16, Smith's sister Shelby Ward filed a missing person report after failing to find Smith. The case also appears on Season 1 Episode 1 of the Investigation Discovery series Betrayed. But after getting a divorce, Susan and Kenneth continued living together. Although Lockhart managed to spend all of the $300,000 over the course of a "wild three-month spree" with his friend, they were arrested after returning home when their money ran out. Copyright 2021 WYMT. Website Intellectual takeout, receives funding from right wing groups, and the Koch brothers. In 1977, Susan Smith met Kenneth Smith, a local dealer of methamphetamine, PCP, and cocaine. But now he can be found at the movies- or in one. Immediately after the hearing, Putnam was handcuffed and taken into custody by Kentucky State Police officers. . And afterward, Kathy Putnam gave birth to the pair's first child, Danielle. Kathy's mother Carol claimed that what happened to Susan was simply "a crime of passion." Dont miss out! Putnam would pay her thousands of dollars for tips, while she became increasingly enamored with her handler. The network says the episode includes interviews with Bert Hartsfield, a sheriffs deputy in Pike County; retired FBI supervisor Jim Huggins, and Joe Sharkey, who wrote a book about the crime called Above Suspicion.. Theres no hiding from it. While they were driving on an isolated country road on June 8, she told him she was pregnant. The people who are obsessed with it, theyre the racist. Absolutely no consequences for that action. 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. From the beginning, Susan Smiths sister, Shelby, knew in her gut that Mark Putnam had killed her sister, according to Philly. As a black person, I cheered for OJs acquittal for every Emmet Til who was lynched for looking at a white woman wrong, & for every black man wrongfully convicted, & for every Rodney King. Due to good behavior, Mark Putnam was released from prison in 2000 after serving 10 years out of his 16-year sentence. People may remember it especially since a movie was made about it in the 1990s titled Betrayed By Love. It will forever be a win in my book. It doesnt matter if youre an upstanding citizen. As an informant, Susan, who was 25 at the time, relayed the shotgun she'd seen with Lockhart that hinted at the possibility of another grand bank . He rented a car when he could have used an FBI vehicle. Stop with trying to appear like youre helping a race or ANY underprivileged community and actually DO Something about it! "He said he knew some things on Mark Putnam that was awful furnishing informants with guns and drugs," Ward said. 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. In exchange, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. On June 8, 1989, Susan Daniels Smith was killed in the Pikeville area. After college, he attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He flew into West Virginia when he had business in Lexington, Jones said. Recommended: Is Horror Movie 'Annabelle: Creation' (2017) Based On A True Story Or Not? Susans sister, Shelby Ward, reported her missing three days later. I mean if he was latino maybe he would be a landscaper? To hell with that. Books and television programs were created using the story and that shock continues to cause ripples in different forms of media today. Ridiculous. All Rights Reserved. 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. [4] Early life After Kenneth's parole officer informed Putnam he was "totally unreliable," Putnam approached Susan to be an informant. Well now. Updated. Lockhart was apprehended in December 1987 and the next year sentenced to 57 years in federal prison on charges of robbery. After leaving it there for a day while he drove around, Putnam left the body by an old coal mining road the following evening. This raises the question of whether or not Smith was ever pregnant, or if there would be any reason for others to try to disprove her pregnancy. 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? The majority of black inmates act like a slew of undisciplined children in grown-up bodies. The information provided by Smith ended up leading to the FBI's apprehension of Carl Edwards "Cat Eyes" Lockhart by the end of 1987 after she told Putnam that the target had ski masks and sawed-off shotguns at her home, The New York Post writes. Her body was exhumed but it was too dehydrated to get an answer. They were in love, she said, and she was pregnant with his child. The case may have been over, but Susan and Mark continued to meet. What type of person marries a man who admits to a murder? TheFBI has been responsible for the deaths of countless people since its inception, including noted Black activistFred Hampton. According to Sharkeys book, a concerned Kathy warned her husband: Dont you ever get involved with this woman . It happens all the time. If he was black with good behavior, they would do the same thing also. Prosecutor John Paul Runyon, the Pike County commonwealths attorney, said that without Putnams June 4 confession, we had absolutely no evidence. Locals believe keeping the story alive is important, but some are suspicious of how the story will come across through the Hollywood gaze. Putnam was given a polygraph test, which is also known as a lie detector test. The case received nationwide attention. The death of Smith is the subject of a new movie starring Emilia Clarke called Above Suspicion, out now. Ms. Smith kept telling me the baby was mine and that she was going to hang me over this. Cat Eyes chief virtues were gregariousness, loquaciousness and generosity, wrote Joe Sharkey in his book Above Suspicion. Qualities admirable in law-abiding citizens, but problematic in bank robbers.. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). I thought he was some white dude trying to scare me with a pistol. And.. Yes, that is interesting. It is unlikely it will die down soon. PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ A former FBI agent who solved a year-old homicide by confessing to the crime pleaded guilty Tuesday to strangling a pregnant informant with whom hed been having an affair. He took a life. Grow up. He plead guilty to felony manslaughter typically a 10-20 year term in KY sentenced to 16 and released in 10 on good behavior. Jolene thats an interesting point. What is the point of stating this? In 1987, an ambitious rookie FBI agent came to Pikeville, Kentucky for his first posting out of the academy. Mark Putnam was smart enough to realize that continuing to see Susan could be detrimental to his career and his marriage. The victims family expressed outrage they were not consulted in the drafting of Putnams plea bargain. Being an informant was a fairly common phenomenon in the area during this time although the pay was low and the risk was high. Putnam and Susan met during this visit to Kentucky. 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. PerAssociated Press,prosecutor John Paul Runyon said thatwithout Putnam's confession, Pike County prosecutors had "absolutely no evidence. She will get pregnant, and she will ruin you.. Sadly, after he came back to town and agreed to meet with Susan Smith, he strangled her and threw her nude body down a ravine. A black person would have been given life to death sentence in the 1980s /90s. The pay, however, for an FBI . [1] She studied at Freeburn grade school, but dropped out in 7th grade, because of financial problems within her family. Investigation Discoverys Betrayed is produced by Trigger Street Productions, All3Media America, and Giant Pirates Entertainment, according to Broadway World. Connecticut native Putnam was 27 years old and just out of the FBI Academy when he found himself stationed in Pikeville, Kentucky, a small Appalachian town three hours from Lexington with a practically unsupervised two-agent outpost. All rights reserved. Later, the medical examiner found that Kathy died due to a combination of pancreatitis and hepatic steatosis, according to the Journal Inquirer. 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. And this wasn't murder in the line of dutythis was a crime of passion. But, still, most people at the theater Wednesday said they are committing to giving the film a shot. Mark married Kathy Ponticelli, who was the "daughter of a wealthy real estate developer." But he received a light sentence because the authorities had no case. Yes, he killed her, but he was also a model inmate and had not once received any disciplinary incidents. That partnership, according to reports, soon became an affair. He has told his story but she is not here to tell hers so we will never truly know what happened on the day of her death but one thing is certain, 10yrs was too short a time compared to the sentence being served to people of color for the same crime. Since on average most black men arent rich, they do fare the worst in the injustice system. He didnt even confess until after a year, after being a suspect and after a failed polygraph test. All that was left of Susan was skeletal remains. Ive read all of the court paperwork. After Mark Putnam was able to gain Susan Smith's trust, they started meeting two to three times every week. I loved Game of Thrones, you know. Discovery (@wbd) August 23, 2016. It is believed that the affair broke her heart. Susan began calling Putnams home constantly, and his wife Kathy would pick up the phone and play the role of therapist for hours on end. He was a man with a big secret. Mark remained close with Kathy's parents, even after her death. His mother and daddy were not married; he had no strong father figure to teach him any better. What would you do if someones trying to snatch your weapon away from you? Putnam had become cool in his attitude toward her, something that worried Susan greatly as she desperately tried to hold onto him. The next evening, he dumped her off an old coal mine road about nine miles north of Pikeville. Susan Smith (ne Daniels 1961[3] June 8, 1989) was an American FBI informant. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. According to Jones, "going from a clerical position to being a special agent is rare, but Putnam was determined to beat the odds.". In an effort to get transferred, Mark also claimed that he and his family had received bomb threats. His battles with the church arent over, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, U.S. says 20,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war since December, Speaker Kevin McCarthy addresses Knesset amid fraught U.S.-Israel ties, First Republic: Cheap, interest-only jumbo mortgages to Silicon Valleys elite fueled the banks failure, SpaceX used wildlife preserve as dumping ground for space waste, lawsuit alleges, Judge blocks Missouri rule that would limit transgender care. At that time, Putnam strangled and killed Smith and placed her body in the trunk of his car. Racism equals hate. But poor white men are treated no better! Eventually, Susan Daniels Smith became pregnant and Mark Putnam wanted to distance himself from Smith before the affair could ruin his marriage. Its an old case that happened in 1989. I wonder if he would have done more time if he killed a man. Smith, a mother of two from Freeburn, had been working with the FBI as an informant with an agent named Mark Putnam. Then he went home to his family in Florida. For Christmas, she bought Putnam expensive running shoes and a Nike shirt a big no-no for an FBI informant. And some sources claim that Smith got the full $5,000 from Putnam for her information and cooperation during the trial. Its a woman who lost her life: Pike County murder hits movie screens, LMPD officer Nickolas Wilts recovery takes huge step forward, JCPS middle school student taken to hospital after eating suspected medicated gummies, LMPD: Man killed in wrong-way head on crash on Preston Highway, Spencer County High School student dies in crash, KSP: Marion County man charged with child sexual exploitation offenses, 2-month-old retriever puppies arrive at Ky. Humane Society after being found in ditch, Louisville man looks to attend his 84th Kentucky Derby. The affair was hot, heavy, and extremely passionate. Susan dropped out of school in seventh grade due to her family's financial difficulties. Her father came from the Hatfield while her mother was a descendant of the McCoys. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? By the way, if you can get your hands on the movie Betrayed By Love, youre in for a tearjerker. Susan Daniels Smith lived a life of poverty, violence and misery. 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. We dont want to make a secret about it, but we prefer not to bring it out, he said. The movie does say she wasnt pregnant. In "The FBI Encyclopedia," Michael Newton writes that Putnam graduated from the University of Tampa as a B-average student majoring in criminology. Im not white and I have to roll my eyes to that foolish question! Meanwhile, "The FBI Encyclopedia" writes that Mark continued establishing himself as a productive agent for the Bureau. 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. While visiting Pikeville to wrap up a case, Putnam took Smith on a drive to Peter Creek Mountain one night. It seems like it wont go away, Ward said of the case. I think the reason he doesnt call me, I think hes embarrassed, said Tim, 30. While Mark Putnam always wanted to be an FBI agent, Carl Edwards "Cats Eyes" Lockhart said that he wanted to be a bank robber ever since he was a child, Joe Sharkey writes in "Above Suspicion."
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