A woman stabbed her husband 193 times, but was it cold-blooded murder or a battered wife finally defending herself and her children? Susan, Jeff and their children. (children’s faces blocked for privacy.) On January 18th 2003, Susan Wright called her attorney Neal Davis requesting that he come to her home as she urgently needed to talk with him. When he arrived, Susan confessed that on the 13th, she had killed her husband in self-defence and buried his body in the backyard. The events of that night are unclear; most “facts” online are alleged, but the widely shared timeline is as follows. Jeff Wright returned home from boxing class in a cocaine-induced rage. Susan was used to the substance-fueled anger, taking the fury and violence so that it wasn’t focused on the couple’s two young children. That night, however, she could not keep the children safe; 4-year-old Bradley got hit in the face by his father. He then moved his anger back onto his wife, beating and raping Susan while threaten...
The end of a brand new relationship with a wealthy local man caused a woman to drive her two children into a lake since he didn’t want a “ready made” family. October 25th 1994, a frantic mother reported that her car had been hijacked with her two young sons still strapped into the backseat. Michael Daniel Smith, age 3 years, and Alexander Tyler Smith, age 14 months, had been kidnapped. Susan could only tell the police that when she stopped at a traffic light, an African-American man rushed the car, forcing her out before speeding away. Right away, Susan began making public pleas on TV, desperately calling for the safe return of her children. While she was in front of cameras, a nationwide search was taking place to find either the boys, the man who had taken them or the family car. Teams were sent out to the lakes and ponds as a part of the publicised search efforts. Through basic maths, it was determined that the car would’ve only made it around 30 feet from the shoreline. It would be...