Craig Melvin

And that obviously helped tremendously. And then when they put out the pictures first and then the video of these little boys, it was really sort of the perfect storm. She would see the searches. She would see the helicopters in the air, the bloodhounds on the ground, all of these investigators, these volunteers. And she still kept it up. And it wasn't just the telling of the lie.

The telling of the lie, the initial lie, and then there were other lies, obviously, because when you lie once, you got to keep lying to cover up the lie. She did it for nine days. A good friend of mine is from Union, and we've talked about it many times since then. People didn't carjack in Union back in the 90s.

The telling of the lie, the initial lie, and then there were other lies, obviously, because when you lie once, you got to keep lying to cover up the lie. She did it for nine days. A good friend of mine is from Union, and we've talked about it many times since then. People didn't carjack in Union back in the 90s.

First of all, there were only two intersections, and you only had like, you know, 30 cars at So much of it didn't make sense. And granted, we're looking at it now through the lens of today. And we talked to two of the journalists who covered the story closely at the time. And they both brought it up separately. I asked them about regrets.

First of all, there were only two intersections, and you only had like, you know, 30 cars at So much of it didn't make sense. And granted, we're looking at it now through the lens of today. And we talked to two of the journalists who covered the story closely at the time. And they both brought it up separately. I asked them about regrets.

And they did say, looking back on it, they wish now that there had been more journalists asking tougher questions about... the story itself and not immediately giving, giving her a pass.

And they did say, looking back on it, they wish now that there had been more journalists asking tougher questions about... the story itself and not immediately giving, giving her a pass.

That's one of my favorite parts of the episode is the police start working together and they give her the polygraph. We know how it turns out. And then you've got Pete Logan. who, by the way, fun fact, worked on the Kennedy assassination back in the day. But Pete Logan is this renowned polygraph expert. They bring him in, and he decides to work with Sheriff Wells to extract this confession.

That's one of my favorite parts of the episode is the police start working together and they give her the polygraph. We know how it turns out. And then you've got Pete Logan. who, by the way, fun fact, worked on the Kennedy assassination back in the day. But Pete Logan is this renowned polygraph expert. They bring him in, and he decides to work with Sheriff Wells to extract this confession.

And it works beautifully. It really did. But to your point, though, Mang, you're right. I mean, this was before... We lived in a time of ubiquitous surveillance. There's no social media, no phone record, like there's no cell phone towers that we can check.

And it works beautifully. It really did. But to your point, though, Mang, you're right. I mean, this was before... We lived in a time of ubiquitous surveillance. There's no social media, no phone record, like there's no cell phone towers that we can check.

Yeah, I would agree with you. And it was interesting to me just hearing her voice on those tapes.

Yeah, I would agree with you. And it was interesting to me just hearing her voice on those tapes.

Funny you should bring that up. I put that question to Tommy Pope, who was the chief prosecutor in the case at the time. And Tommy said that of all the lies she told, that was one that stood out the most because when she showed up at the front door of that woman's house, she was knocking on the door. She was bone dry. If she had been in the water...

Funny you should bring that up. I put that question to Tommy Pope, who was the chief prosecutor in the case at the time. And Tommy said that of all the lies she told, that was one that stood out the most because when she showed up at the front door of that woman's house, she was knocking on the door. She was bone dry. If she had been in the water...

There would be some, even at that point, there would be some evidence that she was in the water. And for him, that made it even more appalling.

There would be some, even at that point, there would be some evidence that she was in the water. And for him, that made it even more appalling.

Oh, no question. No question. These letters have never been shared. And you get a unique insight into what she was thinking then, what she thinks now. And I know you find this to be true with a lot of killers. There is this... clear detachment from reality that still very much exists in the letters. And I found that strange. Right.

Oh, no question. No question. These letters have never been shared. And you get a unique insight into what she was thinking then, what she thinks now. And I know you find this to be true with a lot of killers. There is this... clear detachment from reality that still very much exists in the letters. And I found that strange. Right.

No, in part because of not wanting to give air to Susan Smith. No, in fact, this was the first time he talked about it on national television. I mean, he runs SLED now, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. We actually talked to him during the Murdoch trial, which he had also not talked about before. But during this particular case, Chief Keel, he was in law school at the time.