Deadly Seduction by Wensley Clarkson

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    Susan was the ultimate head-turner in court that day. Even the attorneys could not keep their eyes off her as she clipped into the art deco courtroom with its ornate ceilings and overhead gallery. Her dress conveniently matched the grey walls of the courtroom with its severe wooden pews, two square tables, a blackboard, and an ornate wooden carving showing three Indians making a peace offering. The Oklahoma state flag hung above the judge, a field of sky blue, an Indian warrior’s rawhide shield bearing six painted red crosses, and dangling seven eagle feathers, and superimposed on it a peace pipe crossed with an olive branch. Below it, in white, the legend “Oklahoma.”
    The assembled attorneys had already made a pre-agreed plea, specifically designed to get the hearing finished quickly. It also conveniently helped Susan avoid having to listen to many of the gory details of the injuries which she had inflicted so cruelly on her stepson. Perhaps, if she had been made to face up to her crimes then she might have changed her ways.
    The judge then asked in open court whether this agreed plea would be fair to the people of Oklahoma County. Assistant D.A. Don Deason’s first thoughts were that it was not at all fair because he knew that her plea would probably mean she would not get a custodial sentence. He did not like what he was doing. He felt the case had been compromised and he has never stopped blaming himself ever since. However, Deason did not object in court that day.
    But then he had no choice. There was no real additional evidence from Tom Whited and it seemed as if Susan still exerted control over him despite the fact that their divorce was under way. Deason actually believed that Susan was still sleeping with Whited up until the trial. He remained appalled by that situation because he could not understand how anyone could go back to someone who had done that to his child.
    The judge then repeated his question to Deason about whether this was fair to the people of Oklahoma County.
    “Yes, your honor,” replied Deason, but in his heart of hearts he knew that was not the case.
    The judge gave Susan a five-year suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to child beating, a felony.
    After those court proceedings in 1983, Tommy was officially declared a deprived child and placed into the custody of his maternal grandparents. Susan and Tom Whited both had their rights to the child terminated.
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    Perhaps surprisingly, the case was not given any space in the Oklahoma City Times. But then that might just have been indicative of the vast number of similar child abuse cases that come before courts across the country every day of the year. In fact, the only reference to the Whited case was in a list of felonies which stated simply, “Sue Ann Whited, 24, address unlisted, child beating.”
    After the trial, little Tommy’s grandfather Lester Suenram fought to get full parental rights over Tommy because it was clear that no one else genuinely cared as much for the little boy. The Suenrams were outraged that Susan had been given a suspended sentence. They had seen their beloved grandchild beaten and battered to the point of no return, yet she had walked free from the courtroom.
    Family friend Vivian Susil, who had looked after Tommy so often, was so upset and angry about what happened to him that she took out an album of photos of Tom, Tommy, Susan, and Jacob and cut around each photo, removing Susan and Jacob from her life forever.
    The case has continued to haunt Assistant D.A. Don Deason. He felt the situation was softened by Tom Whited, who had backed down from his original damning testimony by the time the case got to court. Whited seemed to have become yet another manipulated soul in the life of Susan and he left the court that day a very sad man.
    Deason recognized in Susan someone who had developed her own glamorous persona. He believed she picked Oklahoma to live in partly because it was a place