Altered Population is an investigation into filicide in South Carolina hosted by Jennifer Wells.
In today’s episode of Altered Population, Jennifer travels to Lexington County for the Jones’ trial only to find out that it has been delayed. She corresponds with Harrison Cahill throughout the week to eventually paint him into a corner so that she can get the public documents she requested. Jennifer uses the quiet time in Lexington to dig back into the Smith case, where Harrison Cahill makes another appearance, and she discusses the importance of searching for nuance and letting people’s true stories be known. Jennifer analyzes Susan’s handwriting as one of those nuances to describe her mental state.
Before heading out to Lexington County, Jennifer describes how she learned about the Public Index that would have allowed her to search the court records of pending and closed cases. Instead she used the standard form on the county website, which wasn’t very detailed and resulted in her not receiving any of the official documents she requested. She confirmed the court date on the phone with Harrison Cahill and set out to Lexington County, which was a four-hour drive from home.
Upon arrival, Jennifer realized she’d been played and that the court date she was given was incorrect. On top of that she had been denied the press credentials she had requested. Instead of marching into Cahill’s office, furious that he’d lied to her, she sat through four hours of jury selection to calm her nerves. Jennifer explains how she finds the whole process fascinating, and how she witnessed it by being mistaken for a law student.
The process started with roll call, each person giving his or her juror number, name, occupation, and marital status. Afterwards Jennifer talked to the bailiff and explained how she was actually waiting for the Jones trial, and he told her he wasn’t surprised it was delayed again. So Jennifer emailed Cahill back, who informed her that there was no steadfast date set for the trial. She proceeded to email him about the gag order and to find out who asked for it, so that she wouldn’t violate it.
After backing Cahill into a corner, Jennifer got the public records she asked for less than 24 hours later from Frick. It didn’t make up for the incorrect court date, but she made the best of the down time and dug into her other cases. She started with Susan Smith’s old mug shot, which wasn’t what she imagined. She had dark sleek hair, looking quite normal. Jennifer found a letter from Smith to Cahill.
Cahill had spoken about Susan Smith’s case and how he wrote her a letter to ask why she did it in order to understand her better, in the hopes of preventing these things in the future. Susan wrote back to Cahill to tell him that she didn’t receive his request for information. She explained that she was not the monster society that society believes her to be. She said she was a good mother and something just went horribly wrong on that night. Susan also expressed that she’d be interested in speaking to Cahill at a later date.
Jennifer explains how she analyzes handwriting, in reference to Susan’s letter to Cahill, and how the way a person dots their i’s says a lot about them. If the dots are right above, the person might be very organized and detail-oriented. If the dots are to the left, then they’re likely a procrastinator. If the i’s are dotted with oversized circles the person could be childlike. Susan had dotless i’s, which could be a sign of confusion or lack of attention. It’s the details and nuances, like her handwriting, that will help fill in the gaps about Susan Smith.
KEY TAKEAWAYS WITH TIMESTAMPS
01:16 How to fill out a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request
04:30 The thing Jennifer was most embarrassed about
08:00 The moment that Jennifer realized she was lied to
11:23 How Jennifer blended into the court house during jury selection
13:30 The selection jury process
17:32 How Jen
