Susan Reinert was one of Pennsylvania’s most notorious murder cases.

Part 4

Today’s story begins with William Bradfield and Jay C. Smith both behind the bars of Graterford Prison for the murder of Susan Reinert and her two children.

In 1983 Bradfield’s jury convicted him on three counts of conspiracy to commit murder & sentenced him to three consecutive life sentences.

Then three years passed.

In 1986 Smith’s jury convicted him on three counts of murder and sentenced him to the death penalty.

This Susan Reinert murder case, ask The Main Line Murders, was so high profile that four books were written about it.

1 – Echoes in the Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh.

2 – Engaged to Murder by Loretta Schwartz-Nobel.

3 – Joseph Wambaugh & the Jay Smith Case by Jay C. Smith.

4 – Principal Suspect: The True Story of Dr. Jay C. Smith & the Main Line Murders by William C. Costopoulos.

In addition to those four books, CBS produced the miniseries Echoes in the Darkness based on Wambaugh’s book. Check out the trailer below.

Ah, Crest with fluoride. I let the commercial run for nostalgic reasons.

The mini-series featured Peter Coyote, Robert Loggia, Stockard Channing, & Treat Williams. But a huge problem was soon going to rear its ugly head.

IMPORTANT NOTE – Murder stories fall into the genre of true crime. In this genre neither magazine publishers nor book publishers nor TV and movie producers will make a deal until there’s a positive adjudication in the case. In other words, they wait until the jury convicts.

If a story were published or video produced prematurely and the jury failed to convict, those publishers and producers would be on the hook for liability law suits.

Now let’s go back in time to 1983 when William Bradfield was convicted on three charges of conspiracy to commit murder. Nearly two years passed without any charges being filed against Jay C. Smith in regard to the Susan Reinert murder case. It was possible he was never going to be charged or convicted.

One big name popped up in both the books and the TV mini-series, and that name is Joseph Wambaugh. The former LAPD homicide detective was a major player in those fields.

Not all of his books were true crime. Some were fiction. But most were derived from his experiences over fourteen years as a cop and homicide detective with LAPD, and most were set in L.A. Here’s a list of his highest-profile works:

• The New Centurions, 1972, turned into a movie starring George C. Scott & Stacy Keach.
• The Blue Knight, 1973, turned into a miniseries starring George Kennedy.
• The Choirboys, 1977, turned into a movie starring Charles During & Louis Gossett, Jr.
• The Onion Field, 1979, turned into a movie starring John Savage & James Woods.
• Police Story, 1980, turned into 96 TV episodes, co-starring Dandy Don Meredith.
• The Glitter Dome, 1984 turned into a movie starring James Garner, Margot Kidder, & John Lithgow.

From his interviews with Jack Holtz, Wambaugh knew the state trooper had evidence in his possession proving that Jay C. Smith did not murder Susan Reinert and her two children. If that evidence were introduced in court, Smith would be acquitted of all charges. If Smith were acquitted Wambaugh could kiss his advances and future royalties good-bye.

But, somehow, Smith was arrested on June 25, 1985. He was later tried and convicted of all three counts of murder. He was sentenced to the death penalty and was serving his time on Death Row.

I never met Joseph Wambaugh, but I’m guessing he allowed greed to overcome his principles as a former lawman and best-selling author. I’m guessing he decided to lie, cheat, and commit bribery to get richer by getting his book published and his mini-series produced.

Jack Holtz earned $35,000 with the state police. But records show that in 1987 ─ the year after the jury convicted Jay C. Smith ─ Holtz bought a Porsche 944 and a resort home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Where had that money come from?

That same year Holtz contracted Mark Hughes, who ran a flea market & clean-out service, to clean out the attic and basement of his home. If you never hired someone to do a cleanout, please understand that they go through everything because they often find things of value that they can turn into cash. And that’s what Hughes did. In the process he stumbled across a box that drew his attention.

Believe it or not that box contained evidence indicating that Jay C. Smith didn’t kill Susan Reinert. That evidence indicated that William Bradfield acted alone to kill Susan Reinert and her two children.

What was that box of evidence doing in the trooper’s attic?

Well, let’s take a look. There was a note in the box ─ a handwritten note from Joseph Wambaugh to Jack Holtz:

“P.S. Since I would start the leg work immediately we should be very careful about being seen together for the sake of your job. As far as witnesses would know, I received all my information from news stories and anonymous tips.”

Note from Joseph Wambaugh to PA State Trooper Jack Holtz

But there was more inside that box.

Another note indicated that Wambaugh paid the trooper $50,000 to withhold any evidence that might point toward Jay C. Smith’s innocence. There were also notes from a prison snitch indicating that William Bradfield, acting alone, had killed Susan Reinert. Not Jay C. Smith.

Was the snitch telling the truth?

Who knows? But that note could certainly raise some doubts in the minds of jurors. So Wambaugh wanted the note buried and paid Holtz $50,000 to bury it.

But Mark Hughes, the flea market guy, found the box and turned it over to William Costopoulos, who’d been Smith’s lawyer throughout all of his legal battles.

But Costopoulos didn’t stop there. He petitioned the state’s Supreme Court, arguing that a new trial would subject his client to double jeopardy.

Between that consideration & the evidence that was withheld, the Supreme Court ruled in Smith’s favor.

In late September of 1992 Jay C. Smith walked out of prison a free man after serving four years on the murder charges.

Was he innocent?

Who knows?

In 1988 William Bradfield suffered a heart attack and died in Graterford Prison.

Jay C. Smith wrote his own book about the murder case, and so did his attorney William Costopoulos. But Smith died in 2009 ─ and we will never know what happened.

Below are links to the other parts of the story,

Part 1 Victim . . . Part 2 Killer . . . Part 3 Story

I’m America’s Best Crime Writer – Barry Bowe – & I approve this message.

My first book – Born to Be Wild – was published in 1992 and is still selling on Amazon & Kindle. it’s a true story about certain members of the Warlocks motorcycle gang.

The story took 21 years to play out with many twists & turns. It’s an amalgam of Sons of Anarchy and Breaking Bad – but these outlaw bikers make the Sons look like Cub Scouts.

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