Creepy, never-before-seen yearbook photos of killer mum Susan Smith have emerged – as it emerged the honorary student had been nominated as the ‘friendliest’ in the class.
The infamous 53-year-old double murderer was known to her peers and teachers at school as Susan Leigh Vaughan before she married her now ex-husband David.
The couple went on to have two children, Michael, three, and Alex, 14 months, whom she brutally murdered in cold blood in 1994 by tying them up in a car and rolling it into a lake.
But just five years earlier, she was seen smiling sweetly in her 1989 yearbook from Union High School in South Carolina, where she was dressed in a chic black off-the-shoulder top and gold jewelry.
An active student, Smith proved to be a diligent student and role model during her years at USH.
She participated in several clubs, including Beta Club. Jr., Math Club, Spanish Club and Red Cross Club.
She also served as “president” of the Civitan Club – ironically a community service club dedicated to helping others.
Eighteen-year-old Susan Smith, better known as Susan Leigh Vaughan, is pictured smiling in her high school yearbook. She graduated from Union High School in South Carolina in 1989
Smith, president of the Civitan Club, is pictured wearing a Mickey and Minnie Mouse sweater along with 24 other members of the Civitan Club
The callous killer was depicted several times in the yearbook.
Perhaps most surprising, Smith was shown with her classmate, both of whom were nominated as the “friendliest” of all the students in the graduating class.
In her leadership role, she was pictured standing in front of a podium watching the events the club would participate in.
A brief description in the yearbook explains that part of the group’s mission was to sponsor high school dances to raise money.
The year Smith graduated, the club sponsored the Special Olympics and he reportedly played a “very important” role at the school.
In a group photo, Smith appeared in a sweatshirt with Mickey and Minnie Mouse on it, alongside 24 of her peers and other club members.
In another photo, the killer mom was seen wearing a denim miniskirt and a pink collared top with white lace trims in her math class as she received help from her teacher.
Other images show a cheerful Smith dressed in a black robe, along with others who are members of the Beta Club, an academic honor society where students must maintain an overall average of 88 or higher.
The club was also active in the community, sponsoring events at nursing homes and organizing fundraising events.
Smith was president of the Civitan Club at her high school, the year the group sponsored the Special Olympics and dances to raise money
Smith is pictured next to her classmate as they work together at the Civatan booth
Smith pictured with another member who worked at the school fair
Smith was pictured with her classmate, who were both nominated as the ‘friendliest’ students
Smith pictured with members of the academic honor society, the Beta Club
Smith smiled with some members of the Civitan Club
A smiling Smith is seen getting help from one of her teachers in math class. In the yearbook the caption reads: Susan Vaughan gets help with her math work.
The cover of the 1989 Union High School yearbook entitled “First Class Gleam ’89”
On Wednesday, Smith appeared virtually from the Leah Correctional Institute in Greenwood, S.C., for her first hearing since her incarceration.
She spoke apologetically to the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.
“First of all, I want to say how sorry I am,” Smith began, according to NewsNation’s Brian Entin.
She told the board she is a Christian and knows God has forgiven her – and asked them to “show the same kind of mercy.”
Smith occasionally lowered her head, and at one point was seen putting her hand to her face as she explained that she lost touch with reality when she killed her children and did not fully understand her actions.
Sometimes she pretended to cry, but no tears came, Entin noted.
She told the court: ‘I want you to know how sorry I am. I know what I did was terrible and I would do anything to go back and change it.”
Smith’s attorney argued that the murders were a “mental health story” and had nothing to do with another man she was allegedly having an affair with, as previously alleged.
The two sons she killed would have been in their thirties if they were alive today.
The boys’ father, David Smith, told the hearing that his sons’ murders were “not a tragic mistake” as he urged them to keep the killer behind bars.
“That’s only 15 years per child,” he said of Smith’s sentence.
‘Her own children. That’s just not enough. I ask that you deny her parole today and hopefully in the future.”
The seven-member panel unanimously rejected her request for parole.
Smith killed her two young sons Michael, 3 years old, and Alex, 14 months. If they were alive today, they would be in their thirties
Smith and her husband David Smith addressed reporters pleading for the safe return of their sons, who she claimed went missing during an alleged carjacking kidnapping
The married mother of two reportedly had an affair with a man who did not want children. Smith is pictured in handcuffs being led away from the Union County Courthouse before her sentencing in October 1994
Smith grabbed a tissue and repeatedly dabbed her eyes, despite there being no sign of tears
Prosecutors alleged that Smith killed the boys after the man she was having an affair with, Thomas Findlay, broke up with him because he didn’t want children.
She initially reported her two sons missing and told officers that the boys had been taken by an unknown black man during a carjacking.
The killer cried on national television with her husband by her side – who was unaware of the crime she had committed – pleading for their safe return.
Her story was quickly picked apart and Smith eventually confessed to strapping the two boys into their car seats and watching the car roll into the lake.
She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after thirty years.
Just weeks before she was eligible for parole, Smith was convicted of a disciplinary charge and also faced a litany of infractions in prison.
The children’s father said he felt “a lot of relief” after hearing her parole request had been rejected and that he would continue to campaign to keep her behind bars.
Her next parole hearing will be in two years.