The Pamela Smart Case (Part 1)

Morbid

05/29/23

•

100m

About

Comments

Featured In

Mention the Pamela Smart case to someone in New Hampshire, and they'll know exactly what you're talking about. The case captivated the nation in the early 90's and at the center of it all, of course, was Pamela. A New Hampshire native, she had big dreams of becoming somebody and making a name for herself. She moved away from her small town and almost did, but in the name of love she moved back home and settled into her career as a School Administrator. It was via that position that she would meet young sophomore in High School, Billy Flynn. Pam groomed the boy, and had him thinking they were fully in love before she asked him a question that would change both of their lives forever: Would he murder her husband? In part one we'll cover the early life of both Pam and her husband, Gregg Smart, we'll break down how Pam and Billy became involved with each other and just how Pam got Billy to believe that murdering her husband was what it would take for them to be together forever.

Special thank you to the brilliant David White for research assistance

References

Baker, Frank. 1990. "Smart to be jailed until trial." Concord Monitor, August 14: 1.

—. 1990. "Widow charged as accomplice." Concord Monitor, August 2: 14.

Carton, Barbara. 1991. "The Pamela Smart story." Boston Globe, Marcg 21.

1991. NH v. Smart: Opening Statements. Directed by Court TV. Performed by Court TV.

Derry News. 1990. "Family and friends puzzle over murder." Derry News, May 4: 1.

Englade, Ken. 1991. Deadly Lessons. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.

Gaines, Judith, and Alexander Reid. 1991. "Jurors say tales a key to their decision." Boston Globe, March 23: 1.

Hernandez, Monica. 2023. Accomplice in Smart murder asks for sentence reduction. January 10. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www.wmur.com/article/smart-murder-vance-lattime-sentence-reduction/42449265.

Hohler, Bob. 1991. "3 guilty in N.H. killing." Boston Globe, January 30: 1.

—. 1991. "Confidant was wired by police." Boston Globe, March 15: 21.

—. 1991. "Smart is found guilty." Boston Globe, March 23: 1.

—. 1991. "Smart pleaded for life, N.H. teen-ager testifies." Boston Globe, March 6: 19.

—. 1991. "Tales of seduction." Boston Globe, March 12: 1.

—. 1990. "Tape offered at Smart hearing." Boston Globe, August 14.

—. 1991. "Witness: Smart asked for tips on reaction." Boston Globe, March 3: 27.

—. 1991. "Youth says blood flowed, tears did not." Boston Globe, March 13: 35.

Kilgannon, Corey. 2023. "Smart, who plotted with a teen lover to kill her husband, loses a parole bid." New York Times, March 30.

Kittredge, Clare. 1991. "A verdict to take to son's grave." Boston Globe, March 23: 1.

—. 1991. "Smart trial garners big TV audience." Boston Globe, March 17: 1.

Richardson, Franci. 1990. "Mrs. Smart absolutely convinced husband surprised thief." Derry News, May 9: 1.

Sawicki, Stephen. 1991. Teach Me to Kill: The Shocking True Story of the Pamela Smart Murder Case. New York, NY: Avon Books.

Schweitzer, Sarah. 2015. "5 years later, shooter to go free: William Flynn was 16 when he was lured into murder by Pamela Smart." Boston Globe, March 13: A1.

State of New Hampshire v. Pamela Smart. 1993. 622 A.2d 1197 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, February 26).

Wang, Beverley. 2005. "Pamela Smart accomplice released." Concord Monitor, June 15: 10.

West, Nancy. 2016. Breaking Silence: Cecelia Pierce Speaks. October 12. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.nhmagazine.com/breaking-silence-cecelia-pierce-speaks/.

West, Nancy, and David Mendelsohn. 2016. Pamela Smart: innocent of (still) guilty. October 13. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.nhmagazine.com/pamela-smart-innocent-or-still-guilty/

https://www.bostonherald.com/2015/03/09/brother-of-pamela-smarts-victim-killer-did-his-time/

Thanks to Care/of for being a sponsor of this episode. For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code MORBID50.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & E...

Previous Episode

Listener Tales 74 with Jon Lee Brody

May 25, 2023

•

59m

We've got a listener tale up in here!! This week we are joined by Alaina's #bffAF, the one and only Jon Lee Brody. On today's installment we feature stories of spooky road adventures, badass moms, asshole friends & some demon encounters.

Check out That Was Pretty Scary New episodes every Wednesday!

If you have a listener tale that you would like to send in please do so and direct it to Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with "Listener Tale" somewhere in the subject line :)

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)

Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)

Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley

Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally

Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Next Episode

The Pamela Smart Case (Part2)

June 1, 2023

•

99m

A little after 10:00 pm on the evening of May 1, 1990, Pamela Smart returned home from work to find her husband, twenty-four-year-old Gregg Smart, lying dead just beyond the front door of their condominium, a single bullet hole in his head. Detectives from the small town of Derry, NH arrived to find what appeared to be the scene of a robbery; though, very little looked to have been stolen and to investigators the scene felt staged. Two days later, Derry Police Captain Loring Jackson announced that Gregg Smart’s death wasn’t a random attacked, he’d been murdered by someone who knew him. The murder of Gregg Smart, and the trial that followed, shocked the population of New Hampshire, where it remains perhaps the most notorious criminal trial in the state’s history. As the first criminal trial to be televised from beginning to end, the case of Pamela Smart and her teenage lover captivated a national audience, leading to television and feature films, several nonfiction books, and countless television specials in the decades that followed.