Troubled mother fit to face murder trial

Union, South Carolina - Susan Smith, a troubled young mother who drowned her two sons and sent rescuers on a sensational nine-day manhunt for a non-existent kidnapper, was found mentally competent to stand trial for the murders.

South Carolina circuit judge William Howard issued the ruling after 23- year-old Mrs Smith, who has confessed to the killings, said she understood courtroom procedures. She is charged with drowning 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex last October by allowing her car to roll into a lake with the children strapped in the back seat. Reuter