By GARY HENDERSON
Staff Writer

(7/29/95) -- David Smith said if he could speak to Susan Smith now he would tell her this: "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes. I'm glad I don't have to spend the rest of my life knowing I'm the one convicted of murdering Michael and Alex."

In an interview with the Herald-Journal shortly after his ex-wife had been sentenced to life in prison for murdering their sons, Smith said that justice was not done.

"I was disappointed she was not given the death sentence," Smith said. "But I respect the jury's decision and the verdict they returned."

Susan Smith could be eligible for parole in 30 years, and David Smith said he would appear at the parole board hearings every time she comes up for release.

"I'll see that she stays in prison as long as possible," Smith said. "I want to see that life means life for Susan."

On Friday evening Smith relaxed at his home and reflected on the past 17 days he had spent at the Union County Courthouse.

"My testimony on Tuesday was the hardest thing I've done since I buried Michael and Alex," Smith said. "My testimony came from my heart, not my head. It was very hard."

Smith said he would never be able to forget this horrible experience.

"This is going to be a wound that will be there the rest of my life," the 25-year-old man said. "There are times it will be reopened, reheal and opened some more."

David Smith's uncle, Doug Smith, said he doesn't want to sound like "sour grapes" but said the possibility of Susan Smith getting parole in 30 years is not sufficient for the crimes.

"Fifteen years for each kid is pretty cheap penalty," Doug Smith said.

Smith's father, Charles David Smith, said he was extremely saddened by the jury's verdict.

"As a matter of fact, I consider the jury to be 12 cowards," he said. "They had the opportunity to offer justice in a way that would vindicate Michael and Alex's deaths. They chose the easy way out. I hope they never sit where I have for the last 17 days."

Charles David Smith said the way the verdict was rendered proved to him "this is a nation of victims and a county of cowards."

But he said he was grateful to Solicitor Tommy Pope and all law enforcement agencies that had anything to do with trying to get justice for Alex, 3, and Michael, 14 months.

David Smith also expressed thanks to people he said had helped him through the past eight months, including his family, his girlfriend Tiffany Moss, law enforcement agencies, and Pope and his staff.

Doug Smith served as the Smith family spokesman last fall when the nation was focused on the search for the young boys, whom Susan Smith said had been taken by a carjacker. The boys were later found strapped in the car seats when Susan Smith's Mazda Protege was pulled from the bottom of John D. Long Lake.

"Last fall, David didn't have much, but he did have his boys," Doug Smith said. "Well, he still doesn't have much and now he doesn't have his boys."

David Smith's face turned sad as he responded to his uncle's statement.

"He's right. It's over and I'm left to go on," Smith said. "I don't have my kids. Alex's birthday is Aug. 5. I haven't even had time to think about what I'll do. I will do something special for him."

Smith paused and was quiet for a moment.

"Michael and Alex were all I had left," he said, "and Susan knew that."

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