By CLAY MURPHY
Union County Bureau

UNION, S.C. (7/26/95) -- Margaret Kennedy came to the Union County Courthouse Tuesday for just another day in the Susan Smith trial. But the Union woman left overwhelmed by a father's grief.

"It's one of the hardest things I've had to hear," she said, referring to the testimony of David Smith, clearly the most moving part of the trial thus far. "It was almost unbearable."

Smith left many - including the occasional reporter - in tears when he spoke of his happiness with Michael and Alex and the emptiness he's felt since they died this past October at the hands of their mother.

"All my hopes. All my dreams that I had planned for the rest of my life came to an end that day," he said through quiet sobs that brought the court proceedings to a halt more than once Tuesday. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do without my kids."

Some who witnessed the emotional testimony continued sobbing as they walked down Main Street away from the courthouse and the emotions it contains.

"It was painful," said Carolyn Evans of Hendersonville, N.C. "I wouldn't want to hear it again."

Kennedy said there is no question Smith had an effect on the jury, which is deciding whether his ex-wife will receive life in prison or the death penalty for her sons' deaths.

"I can't see how they wouldn't be," said Kennedy, who acknowledges having great sympathy for Susan Smith as well.

"How can you be immune to his emotions?"

But Sherrill Hendrix disagrees. The 45-year-old chemical company worker, who drove from his home in Saluda, N.C., said he's become too "hard-hearted" to be moved by the details of Smith's life.

"I've heard it for so long. I've thought about it a lot," said Hendrix, who believes Susan Smith should be spared death. "It's gotten like O.J. It's gotten old."

Others who attended the trial said constant media reports about the case had allowed them to distance themselves from the emotions involved. But, they say, Tuesday's testimony has made that impossible.

"I'm not coming back," Kennedy said. "No. I can't take it."

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