A U.S. court has denied parole for Susan Smith, 56, who has served 30 years in prison for the murder of her two sons in 1994.

Susan, who was married at the time, initially claimed her car had been hijacked with her two young sons, aged 3 years and 18 months, inside. Her emotional plea led to a nine-day nationwide search, but police became suspicious of her story.

During the investigation, authorities discovered a letter revealing Susan’s affair with a wealthy man who stated he would not marry her because she had children. Pressured by this rejection, Susan confessed to the crime.

She admitted to strapping her sons into the car, driving to a lake, and pushing the vehicle into the water, where it sank with the boys inside. Susan fabricated the hijacking story to cover up her actions.

In 1995, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. However, her request for release has now been denied, keeping her behind bars.

Fox News