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The FBI Killer · 10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories

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Discretion, Is it by him needed murder. Susan Smith was born as Susan
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Daniels in nineteen sixty one. She was raised in Freeburn, Kentucky, alongside
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nine siblings and with a mother who worked as a housekeeper and a father who
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lost his job in the local coal mines. The Daniels children often had to
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go without. In the seventh grade, Susan had no choice but to drop
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out of school. Her parents just couldn't afford to pay the fees. When
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she was fifteen years old, Susan met twenty two year old Kenneth Smith.
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Susan didn't care that Kenneth was a grown man seven years her senior, or
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that he made a living selling cocaine, PCP and methanphenamine. In nineteen seventy
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nine, a few years after the relationship began, Susan and Kenneth got married
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just as she turned eighteen. Due to Kenneth's role as a local prominent drug
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dealer, Drugs were a big part of his relationship with Susan from the very
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start, and it only got worse after they were married. Susan might have
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expected Kenneth to settle down and become more responsible when he became a father,
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But soon enough she was a mother of two and she was fighting with Kenneth
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more than ever. Eventually, Susan and Kenneth agreed that they were simply not
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compatible enough to be in a romantic relationship. They decided to get a divorce,
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but continued living in their family home together for the sake of their young
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children. In the late nineteen eighties, Kenneth's circle of friends in Pikeville,
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Kentucky beginning to track the attention of the FBI. Investigators were interested in one
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man in particular, thirty two year old Carl Edward Lockhart, who was known
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by the nickname Cat Eyes. Carl had already been convicted of robbery, but
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the FBI believed that he was planning to carry out more crimes in the future.
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In nineteen eighty eight, a young agent was assigned to the case,
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twenty one year old Mark Putnam. Mark was a criminologist who had graduated from
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the FBI Academy two years prior in nineteen eighty six. Shortly after his graduation,
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he had gotten married to his longtime girlfriend, Kathy, before he launched
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into full time work as an agent. When Mark met with the local deputy
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Albert Hartfield. The deputy strongly recommended somebody who would be able to help the
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FBI with the case. Albert told Mark that he had a friend by the
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name of Susan Smith who would be able to act as an informant and share
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information about Carl Lockhart and his crimes. Mark met Susan and agreed to offer
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her financial compensation in exchange for her help, and Susan was happy to regularly
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contact Mark, updating him with any news she had about Carl. In total,
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Susan was paid five thousand dollars for her assistance, which today is around
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thirteen thousand dollars. Thanks to Susan's input, Mark successfully arrested Carl in late
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nineteen eighty seven, and the following year he was charged with robbery and sentenced
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to more than fifty years behind bars. Once Carl Lockhart was behind bars,
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Mark expected that he would stop communicating with Susan. But for Susan, their
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relationship had taken on a new meaning. She didn't just see herself as a
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paid informant for the FBI. In fact, she believed that she and Mark
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had a special connection. She wanted to continue talking to him. Even though
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the case was closed, and even though he was married to another woman.
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Eventually, Mark decided that he also felt a connection to Susan, and the
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pair kept growing closer. Before the end of nineteen eighty eight, their close
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relationship had become sexual, and Susan was overjoyed. They would sneak around together,
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arranging to meet up at local motels for sex, and driving to secluded
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places where they could be together. For Susan, it was exciting. However,
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Mark was anxious. He knew that he was breaking countless rules by having
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a sexual and romantic affair with an informant. He'd managed to keep it quiet,
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but if the FBI found out, he would lose his job, and
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if his wife found out, it would destroy his marriage and family life.
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Mark decided that he needed to get away from Susan and focus on his career,
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so he requested to be transferred to Florida, hoping that time away from
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Kentucky would force Susan to move on from their relationship. A year later,
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a new investigation into a string of carth theft's led Mark right back to Kentucky,
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where Susan was waiting for him. She told him that she was four
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months pregnant, and that she knew he was the baby's father. For Mark,
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it was as if all of his nightmares had come true. He couldn't
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leave his wife to raise a baby with another woman, but he also knew
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that Susan wouldn't let it go. In desperation, he offered to adopt the
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baby himself and raise it with his wife, who he believed would agree to
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stay with him as long as he ended the affair with Susan immediately. Susan
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refused this offer. She was having the baby and she wanted Mark to raise
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it with her. On the eighth of June nineteen eighty nine, Mark took
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Susan for a ride in his rental car and then parked in remote clearing to
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continue their discussion. He tried to convince her to give the baby up.
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She tried to convince him to leave his wife for her. It was clear
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to Mark that they would never agree, and he felt that if Susan had
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the baby, his infidelity and unprofessionalism would be exposed. He felt like he
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was backed into a corner, and Susan felt the same way. As their
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argument continued to escalate, and Susan began to slap him. Mark felt like
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he had no other choice. He began to strangle Susan, continuing even after
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she stopped struggling and lost consciousness. He later claimed that he panicked and tried
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to resuscitate her, but was unsuccessful. Once Mark was sure that Susan was
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dead, he dragged her body out of the passenger seat and laid it in
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the trunk of the rental car. He left it there overnight before driving out
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to an abandoned coal mining road around ten miles north of Pikeville, where he
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hoped the body would remain undiscovered for years. He didn't turn himself into the
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authorities or show any signs of remorse for killing Susan and their unborn child.
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After dumping the body, Mark simply drove straight back home to Florida and reunited
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with his family. But the Susan Smith problem didn't disappear from Mark. After
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only three days, Susan's sister, Shelby Ward, became concerned and reported her
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as missing. The investigation quickly highlighted a person of interest, Mark Putnam,
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the FBI agent who had a close connection with Susan and had been in town
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during the time that she went missing. As soon as Mark was suspected to
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be involved in the disappearance, the case became a federal manner and the FBI
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began to investigate their own agent. In nineteen ninety Marco was asked to undergo
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a polygraph exam, which he failed. Side note, I've mentioned on this
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podcast several times over the years my disdain for polygraph tests, and the reason
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I've said is because they're only a little more accurate than a coin flip.
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There's a reason that they aren't admissible in court, and people over the years
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of me saying this on the podcast to ask for more information on how I
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decided that, is there a court case to reference and rather than giving my
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opinion again. This comes from the American Psychological Association. Relating to polygraphs,
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it says polygraph testing has generated considerable scientific and public controversy. Most psychologists and
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other scientists agree that there is little basis for the validity of polygraph tests.
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Courts, including the u United States Supreme Court US versus Cheffer in nineteen ninety
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eight, have repeatedly rejected the use of polygraph evidence because of its inherent unreliability.
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Nevertheless, polygraph testing continues to be used in non judicial settings, often
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to screen personnel, but sometimes to try to assess the veracity of suspects and
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witnesses, and to monitor criminal offenders on probation. So if the police have
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you in an interrogation room and they say we want to give you a polygraph
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test and you pass it, they know that you could pass it and still
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be guilty, so they might come back into the interrogation room and say,
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well, you failed that thing, so let's talk, because they're allowed to
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lie to you. And also, you could be completely innocent but very nervous
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about being there in an interrogation room and talking to the police, and maybe
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someone you were close to has just been murdered. And you fail it.
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But you're innocent, but you fail it, the police are going to put
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so much pressure on you because of that failed polygraph test. So that's why
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I don't like them. But that's not to say that sometimes they don't get
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it right. Because when Mark Putnam failed his he finally gave up. He
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felt like the investigation was closing in on him and he knew that he wouldn't
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be able to fool the FBI. Shortly after the polygraph he confessed that he
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had strangled Susan to death and gave a detailed description of where her body could
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be found. Sure enough, Susan's remains were discovered and Mark was arrested,
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becoming the first FBI agent ever to be convicted of murder. Compared to Carl
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Lockhart, the robber we mentioned earlier, and his fifty seven year sentence,
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Mark received a relatively light sentence for strangling his affair partner to death. Only
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sixteen years behind bars, Mark was described as a model inmate. He was
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polite and courteous, never causing any trouble, and always followed orders. Because
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of his good behavior, he was released after serving only ten years of his
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sentence, but his wife, Cathy, who had stood by him throughout his
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incarceration, had recently passed away due to complications of alcohol abuse. At forty
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one years old, Mark Putnam was now a freeman and a widower. He
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decided to start a new life for himself, moving to Georgia and eventually got
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remarried. To this day, it's unknown whether Susan Smith had ever truly been
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pregnant, or if she was lying about her pregnancy as a way of ensuring
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that Mark would leave his wife to be with her. In her conversations with
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Mark, she'd claimed to be four months pregnant, and Mark Edman convinced that
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she was telling the truth, but when the remains were examined during an autopsy,
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the medical examiner found no signs of a fetus. That is ten Minute
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Murder for today, Brief and bingeable true crime. My name is Joe.
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