Small Town, Nation Ask: Why? -- Boyfriend Wrote That He Didn't Want Smith's Kids, Say Police

UNION, S.C. - She spun a heartbreaking tale of being dumped on a lonely road by a carjacker who abducted her two young sons. Today, she was jeered by spectators and covered her face as she headed for the courthouse.

Susan Smith, whose tearful pleas for her sons' return inspired a nationwide vigil, was charged with killing 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex. And the nine-day search by authorities and hundreds of volunteers ended where their mother's story began: at John D. Long Lake, where a car with two small bodies was found.

CNN, citing an unidentified source, said Smith became a strong suspect when investigators found a letter from a boyfriend telling her he wanted to be with her but he "did not want any kids around."

WIS-TV in Columbia said it received a letter today from a lawyer representing a Tom Findlay of Union, identifying Findlay as the boyfriend. According to the station, the statement said Findlay broke off the relationship with Smith on Oct. 18 because he was not ready to assume the responsibilities of being a father. It also said he knew nothing about the killings.

The station would not identify the lawyer, and there was no answer today at the phone number listed for Tom Findlay in Union.

Emotions were high as Smith, 23, was driven from the York County Detention Center in Rock Hill, where she was held overnight, to the Union County courthouse for her first hearing on two murder charges.

"Hold your head up! You're a baby murderer!" shouted Gloria Smith, one of those in the pack.

After coming to the courthouse, though, Smith opted not to attend a brief hearing. Her lawyer, David Bruck, waived her right to a bond hearing, and Circuit Judge Larry Patterson said she would remain in custody without bond.

Bruck is a death-penalty expert, but he said, "That is not the reason I was retained." Solicitor Thomas Pope, the prosecutor, had said he would consider seeking the death penalty against Smith.

Bruck would not discuss a possible defense strategy or other aspects of the case. All he would say about Smith was that "she is heartbroken."

Because of local officials' concerns about her safety, Gov. Carroll Campbell signed an order transferring Smith to state custody at the Women's Correctional Center north of Columbia, S.C.

Smith's burgundy 1990 Mazda was pulled out of the lake last night, the bodies of two children in the back seat.

The children drowned when the car was submerged, Union County Sheriff Howard Wells said today. He said it was "accurate" to conclude that the children were alive when the car went into the lake.

Earlier Pope, the prosecutor, said Smith's statement led police to her car yesterday afternoon. It had been driven off a boat ramp. Divers had searched the lake several times, but the water was too murky to see the car, authorities said.

Authorities said they had not completed their investigation but were not inclined to think that Smith's estranged husband, David, or others would be implicated.

David Smith's mother, Barbara Benson of Garden City, said her son is devastated. "He's locked in a room and he won't even talk to his father," she said.

Susan Smith told authorities an armed man jumped into her car at a stoplight in a sparsely populated area near town, ordered her to drive several miles, then forced her out and took off with her two sons still strapped in their safety seats. Information from Reuters was included in this report.