A major factor in Susan Smith’s real-life murder and the one depicted in 2019’s Above Suspicion was the fact that she was pregnant, however, modern reports have theorized that this may not have been the case after all. Above Suspicion tells the true story of Mark Putnam (played by Jack Huston) and Susan Smith (played by Emilia Clarke). After beginning an affair, FBI agent Putnam murdered his informant, Susan Smith, becoming the first FBI agent to ever be convicted of murder.
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The story of Susan Smith’s murder is a sad one, especially with the addition of an unborn child. According to the original story, in the late 1980s, Mark Putnam traveled to Kentucky for a case involving a bank robber. Susan Smith became his informant, and over the next two years, the pair formed an illicit relationship. In 1989, Smith told Putnam that she was pregnant and, after a major fight, Putnam murdered Smith. One year later, he confessed to the crime and led officials to Smith’s body. However, was the big detail of her murder true? Was Smith really pregnant?
Susan Smith May Not Have Been Pregnant
![Was Above Suspicion’s Susan Smith Really Pregnant?](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Emilia-Clarke-in-Above-Suspicion.jpg)
Despite Susan Smith’s claims to Mark Putnam that she was four months pregnant at the time of her death, medical examiners never found a trace of a fetus, even after two examinations. Potentially, this could have something to do with Smith’s body being missing for a year before Putnam released its location. However, this theory isn’t grounded in fact. On the other hand, there is certainly a chance that Smith lied to Putnam and her family members about being pregnant.
Throughout Putnam and Smith’s relationship, Putnam was married with children, while Smith was divorced. Because of his wife and family, Putnam had a major reason to leave his relationship with Smith. Their work together as FBI agent and informant was also complete, so he no longer needed her in a sense. However, Smith did not want Putnam to leave. In this way, it would make sense for her to fabricate a pregnancy to gain leverage over Putnam and convince him to continue their affair.
Though there are a lot of creative liberties taken in the movie Above Suspicion, some things are impossible to know at this point. There is no evidence confirming or denying Smith’s pregnancy claim.
![Jack Huston and Emilia Clarke in Above Suspicion](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Jack-Huston-and-Emilia-Clarke-in-Above-Suspicion.jpg)
What Each Above Suspicion Character Looks Like In Real Life
Emilia Clarke’s 2019 film Above Suspicion tells the real life story of a romance turned crime, but how do the actors compare to the actual people?
Why Mark Putnam Really Killed Susan Smith
![Emilia Clarke as Susan Smith and Jack Huston as Mark Putnam talking outside a car in Above Suspicion](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Emilia-Clarke-and-Jack-Huston-in-Above-Suspicion.jpg)
Although part of the reason Mark Putnam killed Susan Smith in Above Suspicion is, allegedly, because of her pregnancy, a better reason for his crime was Smith’s threat of spilling her secret. When revealing her pregnancy to Putnam, Smith claimed that if he didn’t continue his relationship with her, she would tell his family and work about her pregnancy and their affair, putting his life and career on the line. Whether she truly was pregnant, this threat could certainly be enough of a reason for Putnam to kill Susan Smith.
Though it is likely impossible to know at this point whether Susan Smith was pregnant with Mark Putnam’s child in the summer of 1989, it is clear that to save his reputation, Putnam murdered Smith. Fortunately, Smith’s death was eventually avenged when Putnam was arrested a year later and served 10 years in prison for his crime. Furthermore, in 2019, Above Suspicion, a true crime film adaptation, was released to keep the story of Mark Putnam and Susan Smith alive, so hopefully, her memory will never be forgotten.
Above Suspicion
- Summary:
- Based on the true story of one of the most notorious crimes in FBI history, this gritty crime-thriller stars Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Susan Smith, a young woman desperate to escape a seedy life of crime and drugs in a Kentucky coal mining town. When a newly minted FBI agent named Mark Putnam (Jack Huston, Fargo) recruits Susan as his informant for a high-profile case, she believes her bad luck may finally be changing. But as Susan and Putnam’s relationship deepens, so does the danger, setting them both on a collision course with deadly consequences.
- Release Date:
- 2021-05-14
- Assistant Director :
- Steve E. Andrews
- Cast:
- Omar Miller, Sophie Lowe, Chris Mulkey, Emilia Clarke, Austin Hébert, Johnny Knoxville, Jack Huston, Karl Glusman, Kevin Dunn with Thora Birch
- Cinematographer:
- Elliot Davis
- Director:
- Phillip Noyce
- Distributor :
- Lionsgate
- Genres:
- Biography, Crime, Action
- Main Characters :
- Randy McCoy, Kathy Putnam, Rufus, Mark Putnam, Jolene, Cash, Susan Smith
- Producer:
- Angela Amato Velez, Mohamed AlRafi, Amy Adelson, Tim Degraye, Colleen Camp
- Production Company:
- 50 Degrees Entertainment, Sierra/Affinity, Bold Films, Colleen Camp Productions, White Knight Pictures
- Rating:
- R
- Runtime:
- 104 minutes
- Sfx Supervisor:
- Ray Bivins
- Story By:
- 231633
- Writers:
- Chris Gerolmo, Joe Sharkey