By MOLLY McDONOUGH
Staff Writer

UNION, S.C. (7/28/95) -- Susan Smith's stepfather came out of seclusion Thursday to tell the world that he feels partially responsible for the deaths of Michael and Alex Smith.

Beverly Russell, making his first appearance in court, admitted abusing Smith when she was 15 and continuing an incestuous relationship with her until shortly before she drowned her children in John D. Long Lake.

Russell choked back tears as he read from a letter he wrote to Smith on Father's Day.

"I had to tell you how sorry I am for letting you down as a father," he read. "I had responsibilities for you in which I utterly failed."

Russell, who married Smith's mother two years after her father committed suicide, said he crossed the line when she came into his life looking for a father.

"Of course, had I known at the time what the result of my sin would be, I would have mustered the strength to behave in (sic) according to my responsibilities.

"I want you to know you do not have all the guilt in this tragedy. ... My heart breaks for what I have done to you," he said.

Russell, still wearing the wedding band that signifies his 15-year marriage to Linda Russell, was evasive when Solicitor Tommy Pope asked him why he and his wife are living apart.

Russell also told Pope he could not specify when and where he and Smith had sexual relations, other than to say the relationship stopped for a while, re-occurred in 1993, and ended shortly before the boys were killed.

Smith, who sat perfectly still for the first time all week, hung her head while Russell talked about their relationship.

Pope ended his brief cross examination after he got Russell to say Smith was a consenting partner in their adult relationship.

The defense rested its case Thursday after calling Russell and several other witnesses who echoed his plea for mercy and described Smith as a model mother.

Defense lawyer Some of the most convincing testimony Thursday came from the Rev. Thomas Currie, the pastor of Union's First Presbyterian Church.

Currie, who counseled Smith about her sexual abuse, described the woman he knew and then told the jury why the town didn't need a death penalty verdict.

He said Smith, at 17, was "a young person whose life was out of control." She was not emotional when she spoke about the abuse, Currie said.

"It was almost as if we were talking about a third person."

Currie, who saw Smith for the last time when she asked him about reconciling with her husband, David Smith, in May of 1994, said executing her would only cause Union more pain.

"What she did that night was completely out of character," Currie said. "A life sentence will satisfy justice. I think the death penalty is more vengeance than justice."

Others who testified about Smith's character included:

-- Dr. David Heatherly, a Spartanburg marriage and family therapist. He counseled the Russell family in 1987 after Beverly Russell started kissing and fondling his stepdaughter. Heatherly, who also counseled Smith after a suicide attempt she made at 18, said she quit growing emotionally when her father shot himself to death in 1978. He said Smith became confused when her stepfather abused her and didn't know whether to count him as a father or lover. Under cross examination Heatherly said he didn't report the abuse to the Department of Social Services as required by law, because he thought it had already been done. The molestation was reported a year later by a school counselor.

-- Walter Garner, who often took care of the Smith boys. Garner is the father of Donna Garner, one of Susan Smith's closest friends. "We loved the kids just like our own," Garner said through tears. "But we love Susan, too. ... And we know in her right mind she never would hurt those kids."

Judge Howard passed a box of tissues to a juror who wept during Garner's testimony.

-- Felicia Mungo, a Women's Correctional Institution guard who has kept watch over Smith for the past eight months. Mungo said she often catches Smith, who is under 24-hour camera surveillance, kneeling in prayer and crying in her cell. She described Smith as sad, depressed and always worrying about her mother.

-- Tomi and William Vaughan Jr., Smith's aunt and uncle. Both testified about the devastating effects of Harry Vaughan's death on the family.

"Seventeen years later we are still asking ourselves what could we have done," Mrs. Vaughan said. Her husband, Vaughan's only brother, said the same. "Every time Harry is brought up, it's tough," Vaughan said, choking back tears. "I don't know how much more we can take with an added death in the family."

-- Kay Dillard, Smith's math teacher in high school. Dillard testified she will always ask herself what she could have done differently to prevent the tragedy. "If Susan dies, I think that a part of me will die with her."

[Home] [Latest] [Nine Days in Union] [Photos] [Staff] [About]