ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
All the material in this book, except for my own observations, is derived from official court records, police reports, and interviews with the persons directly concerned with the case. Because these collaborators are identified within the text, I will not name them here; however, I want to express my gratitude for their patient cooperation. Two friends, Edith Walker and Bonnie Butler, I do name because they personally assisted me and made my task possible. Also, I would like to single out a few people whose contributions to my work were very specific: Dr. David Wolfe, Forensic Anthropologist, Kentucky Justice Cabinet; Supervisory Special Agent James Huggins, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Major Jerry Lovitt, CommanderEast Branch, Kentucky State Police, and his men; Larry Webster, whose assistance in legal matters was invaluable; Harry M. Caudill, author of Night Comes to the Cumberlands; Mike Sager, free-lance journalist; Lee Mueller, Eastern Kentucky Bureau Chief of the Lexington Herald Leader; Richard Foley, my colleague at Cumberland College; and finally, the hardworking journalists from the Appalachian News Express and the Williamson Daily News, whose reporting helped me especially in the writing of the final chapters.
Aphrodite Jones
Williamsburg, Kentucky
September, 1992
With five bestselling crime books under her belt, Aphrodite Jones has become a recognized authority on true crime. She has provided commentary into the psychological profiles of both killer and victims on such shows as Crime Files on MSNBC, The Today Show, The New Detectives on Discovery, Americas Most Wanted, CNN Newsstand , and Fox News. In her decade of experience as a crime profiler, Jones has made more than 100 television and radio appearances and has been quoted as an authority in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post , The Hollywood Reporter , and USA Today . In addition, Jones created and hosted a reality crime-fighting TV show called The Justice. Hunters that aired on USA Network. Her account of Brandon Teena, entitled All She Wanted, was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed feature film Boys Dont Cry.
Epilogue
About three months after Putnams sentencing, an employee of the Goldenrod Motel, Cleo Burgess, came forward with information about the former FBI agents stays there. The Kentucky State Police went to the Goldenrod and found that records indeed showed that Putnam stayed at the Goldenrod eight or nine times from August through December of 1988. Each time, a woman who matched the description of Susan Smith was seen waiting out in Putnams brown car as Putnam went into the office and identified himself, saying he needed to question someone in the room. He sometimes paid for one person, twenty-two dollars and five cents; at other times motel employees insisted that he pay for two persons, twenty-three dollars and ten cents.
After he and the woman would leave, said Goldenrod employee Connie Haynes, the chambermaid would find one bed messed up along with some dirty towels. Another Goldenrod employee, Mageline Hall, told police that Mark Putnam came back to the hotel around the first of 1989, wanting some receipts. Evidently, at that time, Putnam threw his FBI badge down on the front desk and demanded his sign in cards. Putnam was told the cards were kept by the motel owner, Katie Malik, who was not available. He left in a rage, without his registration cards, and never returned to the Goldenrod again.
Agent Ron Poole stopped calling Shelby Ward in July, 1990, about four weeks after Susan Smith was buried, telling her that he had been transferred to Lexington, although he remained assigned to the Pikeville office well into 1991. Shelby alleges that throughout the missing-person investigation, Poole called her many times a day, often trying to come on to her, asking what kind of panties she had on, whether she was tan questions of that nature and telling Shelby he was going to leave his wife. Poole did file for divorce on April 2, 1990, Pike Circuit Court records show, but that action was never completed and Poole continues to reside with his wife, Cynthia, and their three children.
On July 31, 1990, Pikeville attorney Larry Webster filed an administrative claim with the FBI in Washington, alleging that the FBIs negligence was a proximate cause in the death of Susan Smith and asserting that both of Putnams co-workers should have realized that Putnam was under an extreme amount of pressure and subject to carry out some untoward act upon learning of the pregnancy....
Webster claims that both Hulse and Poole were negligent in failing to see that the relationship between Smith and Putnam was terminated, failing to take steps to protect Smith from the consequences of that relationship, and failing to see that Smith received personal protection. The administrative claim against the FBI has not been acted upon to date. Consequently, there is no formal suit pending against the FBI involving Susan Daniels Smith.
In April, 1991, a Pike County judge granted a request by Susan Smiths family to exhume her remains. The exhumation took place on May 20, 1991, at nine A.M. , at which time Susan Smiths remains were transported to the office of Dr. David Wolfe so that a postmortem could be done. Mark Putnam hired a Louisville attorney, who appointed Anthony Perzigian, a forensic anthropologist and Associate Dean at the University of Cincinnati, to look over Wolfes shoulder. Perzigian went to Frankfort on two different occasions, at which times he witnessed Wolfes examination and was involved in some analysis of Susan Smiths remains. Both men found evidence of some sort of struggle. Specifically, they discovered the right styloid a bone projection at the temple was broken around the time of Susans death. Wolfe also discovered a small fracture to the right nasal bone, a perimortem fracture which occurred just prior to death.
Wolfe points out that his findings do not indicate that Susan died of strangulation, and he says he cannot prove the method of death because the thyroid cartilage, which would have to be examined, is missing from Susan Smiths remains. Wolfe says the broken styloid bone indicates that Susan could have been killed by a blow to the head.
Upon further inspection of Susan Smiths remains, David Wolfe discovered a number of discrepancies, the most significant being that the material returned to him was incomplete. Three bags of debris had been stapled shut; debris which should have contained the fetal tissue and Susan Smiths missing teeth was now gone. As a result, Wolfe has been unable to locate any trace of fetal tissue.
Moreover, Wolfe says sixteen grams of soft tissue connected to a leg bone left his office, but when the remains came back, the soft tissue muscle connected to the bone weighed only four and a half grams. Wolfe says when he sent the sixteen grams of soft tissue to Phelps, it was in a separate box sealed with evidence tape, and that the box is also missing.
Upon the return of Susan Smiths remains, Wolfe discovered trace evidence some torn fingernails with soft tissue adhering to them and he is suggesting a court order might be obtained for Mark Putnam to submit to a DNA analysis to see if the soft tissue under Smiths nails is indeed his. Wolfe says he believes it is possible that more than one person participated in the death of Susan Smith.
