By GARY HENDERSON
Staff Writer

UNION, S.C. (7/21/95) -- The personal and lurid details now being revealed in the Susan Smith double-murder trial are packing the courtroom and bringing the crowds back to Union's Main Street. Many of the people who come say they just want a glimpse of the cast members in one of the most sensational murder trials in South Carolina history.

"We are hoping to see David or Susan or some of the other family members in person," said 29-year-old Jimmy James as he and his friend Alisa Ballinger, both from Rock Hill, watched the activities around the courthouse on Friday.

"We have been watching the news everyday on every channel. So we decided we would come see it live," James said.

Many of the people who came to Union to view the trial Friday agreed they were curious, but others said their trip was more like a pilgrimage.

"I thought if I came here I could better understand it," said Linda Futch, a 45-year-old woman from Statesboro, Ga. "I teach children all the time. Understanding this is going to be hard."

Futch and two friends drove four hours on Friday morning to attend the trial and view the places they have seen on television and read about in the newspapers.

"This is reality," said Futch's fiance, 47-year-old Frank Hodges. "I don't understand why this happened. Something happened to Susan. I guess only God know what it was that happened to Susan and made her do it."

Futch's friend, 55-year-old Jean Woods, said her trip to Union had filled a need in her life.

"I needed to come here," the woman said, her voice choking. "I felt I had to do it, even if it was a four-hour drive."

Visitors to John D. Long Lake, where Susan Smith said she drowned her sons, and the Bogansville United Methodist Church cemetery, where they are buried, have increased this week as well.

New flower arrangements, stuffed animals and small toys have been left among those faded by the summer sun. A note on a large teddy bear placed at the lake reads: "Please don't take this bear. It belongs to Alex and Michael."

As court was about to be recessed on Friday afternoon, two women from Charlotte waited by the fence at the south entrance of the courthouse.

"What I've seen on television is just images," said Linda Mattix, who was with her friend Kathy Hardy. "This is real."

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