The Susie Newsome, Fritz Klenner suicide-murder case is the feature of tonight ‘s Snapped Killer Couples. The Oxygen crime-based show profiles deadly couples whose passion drives them to kill. In tonight’s season finale, Snapped Killer Couples will chronicle the tragic case of kissing cousins Susie Newsom and Fritz Klenner, whose case first came to the attention of the public in the mid-1980s, after they murdered the children of Susie’s ex, Tom Lynch, in a fiery explosion.
Susie and Tom Lynch were married for about a decade before he wanted out of the relationship. Susie was a pretty Southern belle whose manners in public were courteous and gracious, but behind the scenes she made Tom Lynch’s life a living hell. After the couple ended their marriage, Susie terrorized her ex by harassing him and emotionally brainwashing their two children. She also began dating her blood relative and cousin, Fritz Klenner.
Susie and Fritz’s relationship was both stormy and passionate. Once Tom Lynch found out about this inappropriate relationship, he grew increasingly concerned for his children and sought out custody of them. This custody battle embittered Susie Newsom even more, leading her to increase the emotional manipulation of her children.
The dangerous cat-and-mouse game continued until Susie and Fritz were implicated in a murder investigation. In the mid-1980s, Susie Newsom’s grandmother, mother, and father were found dead in their home. The victims had all been fatally shot. Tom Lynch alerted police that his mother and sister had been shot and killed in their home in the same manner, and that there were no suspects in the case. Police and Tom Lynch began to connect the Kentucky-South Carolina killings to each other. During the police investigation of this killer couple, authorities learned of several criminal activities in which Susie and Fritz were involved. They also discovered that Klenner had been posing as a doctor.
Once they had enough evidence, they arrived at their home to make an arrest but Fritz Klenner fled with Susie and her children, leading police on a slow chase with Fritz and Susie. Feeling that they were losing control, Susie decided that there was no way in hell that Tom Lynch was going to get custody of his children and Fritz was dead set on not going to prison. Stopping the car in the middle of the road just in front of the officers behind him, Susie released a bomb inside the vehicle — killing them all instantly, including the innocent boys.
The case sent shock waves through the community and Tom Lynch was devastated for years after the tragedy. Lifetime television made a movie about the case entitled Bitter Blood , which was based on the book by the same name. The “Bitter Blood” case has been the subject of several crime documentaries, according to the Movies Based On True Stories Archives .
Snapped Killer Couples : Susie Newsom and Fritz Klenner airs at 9 p.m. tonight on Oxygen.
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