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Pamela Smart was convicted of convincing her teen lover Billy Flynn to murder her husband, 24-year-old Gregg Smart, on May 1, 1990. On that day, Flynn and three of his friends planned and executed the murder of Gregg Smart, who was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Pamela Smart testified that she’d been having an affair with the 16-year-old Flynn but denied involvement in her husband’s death, the Washington Post wrote.
NBC’s Dateline is exploring the case and trial, which captured the country’s attention, and Smart’s continued statements of innocence. Smart, Flynn, who pulled the trigger, and his three friends were all convicted for their roles in the crime.
Flynn and Patrick Randall were convicted of second-degree murder while Vance Lattime Jr. was convicted of being an accomplice to second-degree murder, ABC News reported. Raymond Fowler, who stayed in the car during the crime, was convicted of conspiracy to murder and attempted burglary.
Where is Billy Flynn today? Is he still in prison?
Flynn Was Sentenced to 40 Years With 12 Years Deferred & Was Paroled in 2015
Flynn was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 12 years deferred but was granted parole on his 41st birthday in March 2015, the Chicago Tribune reported. During his hearing, he said, “I will always feel terrible about what happened 25 years ago. Parole will not change that.” At the time, he said he was ready to reenter society and wanted to become a journeyman electrician. The parole board heard that he hadn’t received disciplinary action in his last 10 years in prison. He said:
I know that nothing I can say here today will be of comfort to the Smart family, but at the very least, I sincerely hope that this will be the last time they have to be publicly reminded of their grief, and I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused them.
After his release, he moved to Maine in an “upscale home on 3½ acres” with his wife Kelly, who he married while in prison, New Hampshire Magazine reported. He’s avoided the limelight and kept a very private life, the outlet wrote. “Flynn, who is taller and appears physically stronger than in photos, was released on lifetime parole on June 4, 2015. He sports a mustache and goatee, and seems congenial until a camera comes out,” according to the magazine’s report.
Seacoast Sunday reported on a letter submitted to the court from Kelly Flynn in 2008 in which she described herself as “a 39-year-old woman with a teenage daughter.” She wrote, “I am in this for life, because without him I would have less in my life and when I think of my future, I cannot see it unless it includes him. He is the heart of me.” The outlet also reported that Kelly Flynn’s daughter wrote another letter indicating she would not be living with her mother if Billy Flynn was there.
Flynn’s three co-conspirators have also all been released from prison, ABC News reported. Pamela Smart remains in prison, however, with a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
He Cooperated With the Authorities & After His Conviction Said He’d Like to Know If Pamela Smart Truly Loved Him
Flynn cooperated with the investigation and told the authorities, “I meet Pame Smart and she’s beautiful, she’s intelligent, you know, she’s an adult…and she likes me. She said the way she sees it, the only alternative…is to kill him,” ABC News wrote. During his trial, he became emotional as he described what happened:
A hundred years, it seemed, and I said ‘God forgive me.’ [Then] I pulled the trigger. I didn’t want to kill Gregg. You know, I wanted to be with Pame. And that’s what I had to do to be with Pame.
ABC News interviewed Flynn in 1995 and asked him what he would ask Pamela Smart if he had the chance. He said he’d want to know, “Whether or not she really ever loved me. In hindsight, that might not seem like a very big deal to most people, but knowing that she had me do this and that I did go through with it and that she never really loved me would probably kill me.”
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