Pamela Smart

Infobox Criminal
subject_name= Pamela Wojas-Smart


image_caption= Pamela Smart being interviewed with MSNBC-TV's Rita Cosby at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
date_of_birth= Birth date and age|1967|8|16|mf=y
place_of_birth= Coral Gables, Florida
charge= First degree murder
penalty= Life without parole
status= Imprisoned
occupation= Inmate
spouse= Gregory Smart (deceased)
parents= John & Linda Wojas
children= None

Pamela Ann Smart (Wojas) (born August 16, 1967), is serving a life sentence for accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering in New Hampshire. Smart was convicted for conspiring with her 15-year-old lover, William (or Billy) Flynn, and his three friends to kill her 24-year-old husband, Gregory (also known as Gregg) Smart, in Derry, New Hampshire.

Early life, education, and marriage

Smart went to high school at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, where she was a cheerleader. She went to college at Florida State University and graduated with honors with a communications degree.

Pamela Smart met Gregory Smart at a New Year's Eve party held on 1986/1987. They began to date seriously by February 1987. They married in 1989. [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7090228 Gregory Smart (1965 - 1990) - Find A Grave Memorial ] ] As they neared their first wedding anniversary Gregory Smart admitted he was having an affair. Greg bought Pam a Shih Tzu and she named it Halen after her favorite rock band Van Halen. A couple months into her marriage she took a job as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School. [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/3.html Sex, Lies and Murder: The Pamela Smart Case ] ] Smart met one of her students Billy Flynn at "Project Self-Esteem" at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire, where Smart and Flynn were both volunteers. Smart was also employed as a media services coordinator with the Hampton school board, [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/4.html Sex, Lies and Murder: The Pamela Smart Case ] ] and Flynn was a sophomore. She had also met another intern named Cecilia Pierce who was friends with Billy Flynn.

Murder

Smart was accused of seducing 15-year-old William "Billy" Flynn and threatening to leave him unless he killed her husband. Flynn did so with the help of friends Patrick "Pete" Randall, Vance "J.R." Lattime Jr., [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/6.html Sex, Lies and Murder: The Pamela Smart Case ] ] and Raymond Fowler [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3766841 ABC News: Pam Smart Gunman Seeks Reduced Sentence ] ] on May 1, 1990. [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/10.html Sex, Lies and Murder: The Pamela Smart Case ] ] Flynn shot Gregory Smart as Randall held him down, as Lattime, the driver, waited in the getaway car outside with Fowler.

During the investigation J.R. Lattime's father brought a .38 he'd found in his house to the police, believing it might have been the murder weapon. An anonymous tip also indicated that a teenager named Cecilia Pierce was aware of the plan. Police talked to Cecilia and she then agreed to wear a wire and record some conversations with Smart, in hopes that she'd say something incriminating, which she did. On August 1, 1990, Smart was arrested for the murder of her husband.

Trial

Smart's trial was widely watched and garnered considerable media attention. In her testimony, Smart acknowledged that she had had an affair with the teenager, but claimed that the murder of her husband was solely the doing of Flynn and his friends, borne as a reaction to her telling Flynn that she wished to end their relationship and repair her marriage. She insisted that she neither participated in the murder plot nor had any foreknowledge of it. Though Flynn had fallen in love with Smart when he first met her, Cecilia Pierce was to testify at trial that Smart and Flynn were originally just friends. She first noticed a change around February, when Smart confessed to Pierce that she "loved Bill."

Smart was convicted on March 22, 1991 in the Rockingham County Superior Court after a 14 day long trial, of "being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering". [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DE1538F932A35757C0A967958260 Teacher Says Her Conviction Was a Surprise - New York Times ] ] Billy and his friend’s testimony as well as extensive evidence were enough to convict Pamela Smart of plotting her husband’s murder. This was largely as a result of the testimony of her conspirators and secretly-taped conversations in which Smart appeared to contradict her claims of having wanted to reconcile with her husband and of having no knowledge of the boys' plot. [ [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/13.html Sex, Lies and Murder: The Pamela Smart Case ] ] Smart argued that the media had influenced her trial and conviction. She could have been charged with capital murder, but the prosecution decided against it. She was given a mandatory sentence to life in prison without the possibility for parole. The trial of Pamela Smart was the first fully televised case in the United States.

Incarceration

Smart is incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York State where she is serving a life sentence and her DIN number is #93G0356. Not only is she the only person in New York incarcerated under the compact but she is also the only one serving a sentence of life without parole. Smart was transferred to Bedford Hills, a maximum security facility, from the New Hampshire State Prison for Women in Goffstown, New Hampshire in 1993. State officials stated that she was transferred because New Hampshire did not have a secure enough facility to house her, the higher security necessary due to the high-profile nature of her case. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE1D71E30F931A25750C0A965958260 Woman in Plot to Kill Husband Shifts Prisons - New York Times ] ] Although she has not admitted responsibility for her crimes, she has conceded that if she had not had an affair with Flynn, Gregg would still be alive. [http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/pamsmart/20050220aPH.htm] [ [http://www.pamelasmart.faithweb.com/about_4.html Sentence ] ] In prison, Smart has spent her time tutoring other inmates and has completed two masters degrees, in literature and legal studies, [ [http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/HolidayTheme/Story?id=3555182&page=2 ABC News: Pamela Smart 17 Yrs Later: 'Innocent' ] ] which were paid for with private funds from Mercy College. Smart became a member of the National Organization for Women campaigning for rights for women in prison. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E1DC1E31F93AA15751C1A960958260 NOW Chapter Thrives Among Inmates - New York Times ] ]

Smart also spends her time pondering the loss of a life outside of prison, and still maintains hope of having children.

In October 1996, Smart was severely beaten by inmates Mona Graves and Ghania Miller, resulting in a metal plate being placed in the left side of her face. The two inmates beat her after accusing her of snitching on them about their prison relationship. Both inmates were convicted of second-degree assault in an attack at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. The two inmates were transferred to separate prisons. [ [http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-97/12-05-97/c09sr106.htm 2 inmates guilty of beating Pamela Smart] December 5, 1997] In 2003, pictures of her scantily clad were published in the National Enquirer and she was subsequently placed in solitary confinement. She sued claiming this amounted to unfair treatment. Her lawsuit was dismissed. [ [http://www.wcsh6.com/news/regional/article.aspx?storyid=39287 Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Brought by Pamela Smart] July 30, 2006] In 2006, Smart and fellow inmate Carolyn Warmus sued officials of Bedford Hills, claiming sexual harassment, and also sexual assault by a guard, who she also claimed coerced her into posing for the suggestive pictures published of her in 2003. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11325793/ Inmate Pam Smart Sues Jail and Guard for Sexual Assault] Feb 13, 2006] Pamela Smart is allowed among other items a radio, a typewriter and 25 books in her jail cell. In her spare time she says that she likes to read books, and watch television with the other inmates, including Prison Break, which is a popular show among the other inmates. She and other inmates like to prepare food but she claims that she only has one meal a day because she has such a small appetite. Ever since she was severely beaten, she takes medication for chronic pain and sometimes thinks of suicide. Pamela's counselor, Dr. Eleanor Pam, says that "She has many, many, many dark days". Smart says she still keeps track of Flynn because she regards him as being the key to her freedom. "He is one of the few people that could actually get me out of here, by coming forward and telling the truth, but he's never gonna do that," said Smart.

Albert Johnson, Smart's attorney from Boston, Massachusetts, is nationally known for his high-profile clients, such as Patty Hearst and F. Lee Bailey. In April 2004, the First U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a 2002 ruling by a federal judge who rejected her federal habeas petition. Previous to her federal appeal, Smart had exhausted all judicial appeals at the state level. In July 2005, the New Hampshire Executive Council unanimously denied a pardon request for "any conditions the governor may seek to impose."

Paroles

William Flynn and Patrick Randall are serving their sentences at the Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine. Raymond Fowler was paroled in 2003, [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEEDA1738F937A35757C0A9659C8B63 National Briefing | New England: New Hampshire: Parole In 'To Die For' Killing - New York Times ] ] , sent back to prison for violating his parole terms in 2004, [ [http://www.wptz.com/wnne/3588116/detail.html Man Convicted In Gregory Smart Death Behind Bars Again - WNNE News Story - WPTZ Plattsburgh ] ] and paroled again in June 2005. [ [http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080125/NEWS/80125025&sfad=1 Fowler family speaks about shooter Flynn's request ] ] Vance Lattime had his 30 year sentence reduced by 12 years. In 2005 his sentence was reduced by three years and he was paroled.

Recent Events

In an interview by ABC News, Smart indicated she is afraid of growing old and dying in prison and would rather have had the death penalty than life. [ [http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/HolidayTheme/story?id=3555182&page=1 Pamela Smart Maintains Innocence in Prison] December 19, 2007]

William Flynn is incarcerated at the Maine State Prison in Warren, where he earned his GED, has been active in charity work and worked as an electrician at the prison. In 2007, Flynn sought a sentence reduction after serving 16 years, stating that he had vowed not to do so until he had spent as many years behind bars as he had spent free. He also apologized to Gregg Smart's family for murdering him. The Smart family opposed the request. [cite web
url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2007/10/23/pamela_smarts_former_teen_lover_seeks_sentence_reduction/
title=Pamela Smart's former teen lover seeks sentence reduction
publisher=Associated Press
date=2007-10-23] On February 12, 2008, the request was denied, although Flynn's parole eligibility date was reduced by three years to 25 years, making him eligible for parole in 2015. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/12/smart.gunman.ap/ Gunman in Smart case denied release] February 12, 2008]

In popular culture

The trial spawned a television movie starring Helen Hunt and Chad Allen, "Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story", and inspired the Joyce Maynard novel "To Die For" (ISBN 978-0451186072), which was adapted into the Gus Van Sant 1995 movie "To Die For", starring Nicole Kidman. The case was also the subject of several best-selling true crime books, including "Teach Me To Kill" (ISBN 978-0380766499) and "Deadly Lessons" (ISBN 978-0312927615). The crime series "American Justice" played an episode on the case "Crime of Passion: The Pamela Smart Story".

The character of Becky Burgess in feminist writer Marge Piercy's novel "The Longings of Women" (ISBN 978-1570420443) was inspired by Pamela Smart and the conspiracy to kill Gregory Smart . [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502E3D9173DF933A15750C0A962958260 The Three of Them - New York Times ] ]

The story also inspired the musical, "Alive at Ten", with music and lyrics by Ryan Scott Oliver and book by Kirsten A. Guenther.

Pamela Smart's life is profiled on "Snapped" a television series on the Oxygen Network that profiles female criminals and murderers.

The Family Guy episode "Fast Times at Buddy Cianci, Jr. High" is somewhat based on Pamela Smart and Flynn.

The 1993 Mike Myers/Dana Carvey film Wayne's World 2 featured Garth in a brief tryst with Honey Hornée (Kim Basinger in cameo), who may be a parody of Pamela Smart (this film débuted ahead of To Die For).

References

External links

* [http://www.pamelasmart.net Official website]
* [http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/pamsmart/index.htm Pam Smart links from the website of the Lane Memorial Library]
* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/family/smart/1.html The Crime Library]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7090228 Gregory Smart Memorial] at Find A Grave
* [http://www.smarthomicide.com Smart Homicide Investigation]