Very well written account of a very sad story. Only due to the honor, integrity, and strong conscience of a good man, Mark Putnam, who made a tragic mistake, was the accidental killing solved and justice done. While Susan Smith had a hard life, instead of accepting the help offered from Kathy Putnam, she turned it down and betrayed her as well, while also spreading exaggerated and untrue stories to make herself seem important, telling people she was an FBI informant and putting herself and cases at risk, taking drugs, and attempting to blackmail Mark Putnam with a pregnancy that wasn't his. Smith was on a path of destruction from childhood and couldn't, or wouldn't, accept help and change her path.
While Mark Putnam did kill Susan Smith, it wasn't premeditated, it was in the heat of the moment while being blackmailed, screamed at, and beaten on (and many who knew Susan said she was a fierce fighter), while already being under a lot of stress from his job, transferring to another state, trying to finish up cases in Pikeville so he and his family could start over in Florida, trying to heal his marriage, all after spending his first couple years as an FBI agent in an inhospitable, harsh environment with little support and training. Imo his supervisors failed him by putting him in a 2 man office in that particular environment, and didn't give him the advice they should have given any new agent when Putnam notified them that Smith was trying to get more personal than informants should. Sending an agebt like Poole there was another mistake. Putnam was what every FBI agent should be, and imo if he'd had better supervisors, he'd never have been in this position to begin with, and this killing would never have happened. It was a perfect storm, and it destroyed many lives.
Yes, he took a life, and no one deserves to die, but it was an accident and he's served his time. Without him confessing, the DA wouldn't have been able to convict him. I don't believe anything or anyone could be harsher on him than he is himself. And to have his wife pass away while he was in jail is beyond sad. My heart breaks for his kids as well. I hope that Mark Putnam has learned to forgive himself, that he doesn't torment himself with guilt, that he and his children have gone on to lead happier lives, and that he's at peace.
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