Pamela Smart earned a life sentence in New Hampshire when she and her teenage lover conspired to murder her husband in 1990. Smart was born Pamela Rojas in Coral Gables, Florida on August 16, 1967, the middle of three children born to John and Linda Wojas, a commercial airline pilot and a legal secretary. She was very close to her mother but did not get along well with her father. A job transfer took the family from sunny Florida up to gray, snowy New Hampshire when Pamela was 13. They settled in Windham and she attended high school at Pinkerton Academy in Derry where she was a cheerleader. Pamela was an outgoing and highly popular girl who was always the center of attention, which she attributed to her astrological sign being a Leo. She was also extremely organized and compulsive about keeping her schedule and personal surroundings orderly at all times, folding her clothes into color-coded groupings and even putting her laundry in separate dark and white sections. She did not like when her plans were disrupted.Pamela graduated in 1985 and went back down to Florida to obtained a communications degree from FSU with a 3.85 grade average. She worked as a DJ on college radio and hosted a show called "Metal Madness" where she went by the name "Maiden of Metal." At least one listener was surprised to see that Pamela was a petite girl as he apparently expected her to resemble rock frontwoman Wendy O. Williams or something of that sort.
She met Gregg Smart, same age as her, at a party on New Year's Eve 1986 and they started dating two months later, eventually marrying in '89. Both loved heavy metal and Gregg, who also played guitar, bought her a Shi Tzu she named Halen in honor of rock group Van Halen. Gregg was a good looking young man and physically toned from his love of outdoor activities. Their marriage began to unfold in a few months, however, because Gregg wanted to grow up faster than Pamela did. He decided to follow his father into the insurance industry and he became less interested in music than he used to be. He soon became a skilled insurance salesman and preferred to hang out with male friends rather than his wife. Pamela was also upset when Gregg trimmed his previous long hair and began adopting a Gordon Gecko yuppie haircut.Near their first anniversary Gregg admitted to cheating on Pamela. But then he'd also told his parents he intended to throw a party for their anniversary a week later and go to Florida, since Pamela loved the beach. From that point onward, if they disagreed on anything, she would bring up the affair. She wanted out of their marriage, although Gregg didn't know this.
Pamela meanwhile was working relentlessly towards a broadcasting career, doing three jobs and still found time to organize a safe sex benefit, even talking a couple of rock groups into giving free performances. She obtained a position as media services director with the school board in Hampton, near Portsmouth, not her dream job but one she hoped would lead to better places. Her duties included distributing and producing educational videos for use in the school district completel with her own secretary and student intern. She also volunteered as adult facilitator with Project Self-Esteem, a local drug awareness program which all freshmen students at Winnacunnet High were expected to participate in. The kids liked Pam in part because of her music knowledge and ate up her stories about attending rock concerts and getting backstage passes.One of the kids in the project, 15 year old Billy Flynn, became completely transfixed with Pamela, going out of his way to be helpful at her sessions and visiting her every day at her office. Flynn also played guitar and loved heavy metal, especially Motley Crue, and he seemed like just the kind Pamela wanted. The attraction was mutual. She became overly friendly, overstepping her founds with the student intern that came with the job, 15 year old Cecelia Pierce and they became friends. Pamela knew Cecelia, who dreamed of being a journalist, was very interested in her job as an alternative. She became Pamela's sounding board for nearly everything going on in her life.
Billy Flynn was a California native born on March 12, 1974 to William Sr. and Elaine Flynn. The couple fought routinely and had had a vicious argument the day before Billy was born. They had two more sons after him. Although Bill loved his son, he was a tough case and a demanding father. He was warm and genial when things went his way, but when they didn't he became angered easily. When Billy was 12, Elaine divorced her husband after finding out that he had been unfaithful to him for a good portion of their marriage and move with her son across the country to New Hampshire. Billy was not happy about this, but the move was made and he began attending 7th grade classes in Seabrook. William Sr. died in a horrific accident in January 1987 when he rear-ended a fuel tanker truck which spilled thousands of gallons of gasoline and caught fire. His corpse had to be identified through dental records.Seabrook, New Hampshire was a working class town whose inhabitants are widely known as "Brookies", a term not necessarily intended to be flattering; the town was the basis for Dogpatch, USA in the Lil Abner comic strip.
Cecelia Pierce was a large, mannish girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She enjoyed the company of Pamela Smart, finding it cool to have an adult friend who treated her as an equal instead of a kid, and Pamela always paid for lunch or other social outings they had. When Cecelia started learning how to drive, Pamela let her practice in her Honda CRX. However, it wasn't long before this friendship started interfering with Cecelia's life. Her mother in particular was indignant and believed she considered Pamela a surrogate mother. Cecelia's grades started slipping and her mother complained to school officials that she was spending way too much time at the school board's media center, but nothing much came of it.Pamela and her two teenage charges often hung out at shopping malls, restaurants, beachfront arcades, and clubs. Since Gregg wanted to mostly hang out with friends and avoid her, she saw no reason why she couldn't do the same.
It was February 1990 and Billy was a month from turning 16 when Pamela began flirting with him. She confessed that she didn't know what to do about her feelings since she was married, but she always thought about him. About three weeks later she kissed Billy on his bed as Motley Crue's "Starry Eyes" played in the stereo. Organization was Pam's skill and she sent her sights on controlling and manipulating Billy. In the third week of March, Pamela took advantage of Gregg making a business trip out of the state. She invited Billy and Cecelia over to her condo to watch the racy movie 9-1/2 Weeks. Leaving Cecelia downstairs to walk the dog, she brought Billy upstairs to her and Gregg's bedroom and seduced him as Van Halen tunes played on the CD player.They had sex several more times over the next few weeks, each time Pamela lamenting that their relationship could never be more than a tawdry affair unless she got rid of her husband. Billy asked the obvious question: why not get divorced? Pamela said it wasn't that simple; Gregg would probably stalk her constantly and she'd lose their condo, furniture, and probably her Shi Tzu as well. She also lied and said that Gregg was physically abusive and there was no way out except to kill him. The next morning Pam drove Billy to school and told him they couldn't continue their affair unless he was willing to help get rid of Gregg. Billy took Pamela at her word and believed she was really going to break it off with him if he didn't do as she said. He began discussing it with his friends and Pamela said he had until May 1 to take up her offer; if they managed to off Gregg, she would split the payout from his life insurance policy with him.
The couple's marriage got worse. They were spending more and more time apart from each other and Cecelia remembered them arguing over the phone about who got what of their property if they divorced. By April, Greg was mostly coming home to an empty house and confessed to friends that he felt an increasing sense of dread in the air.The plan to kill Gregg was worked out during this time between Billy, Pamela, and his friends "J.R." Lattime and Pat "Pete" Randall. Pam ultimately came up with most of the plan which involved the boys wearing dark clothes, Billy tying his long hair back, parking by the shopping mall, and Pamela leaving the basement entrance and back doors open for Bill and Pete to come inside and ransack the place, taking valuables inside and making it look like a burglary. Pamela laid down several rules. First, no lights were to be turned on because Gregg would get scared and not come inside. Put the dog in the basement because she didn't want Halen to be traumatized by seeing the murder. Finally, use a gun and not a knife as the latter was too messy.
May 1 dawned foggy and gray, a rainy spring morning over the New England region. Gregg and Pamela got up and did their usual morning routines of dressing, showering, drinking coffee, and feeding the dog. For the former, it was another work day at the insurance office with nothing interesting expected to happen. Gregg left the house first, although usually it was Pamela. The latter got in her Honda and headed off to her job in Hampton. She had planned on coming home later than usual that evening, well after dark. The meeting with the school board would go late because they were having a salary review and a discussion regarding a media class that she was interested in teaching in the fall. She would not arrive home until well after Gregg was dead.Pam stopped off at the high school locker to inform Billy that the basement doors were open and he was free to begin the plan any time he wanted. That day she even wore all of her jewelry at once so as to not lose anything valuable. By 2:30, Billy called her and let her know there was a momentary problem; they needed to hitch a ride to go pick up the getaway car, J.R.'s grandmother's '78 Impala. Pam agreed to come over in a little while.
Bill and Pete entered the condominum. Firstly they had to take care of the dog. Halen did not like being picked up and growled at them. The boys chased him around for a while before forcing him into the basement. They then proceeded to ransack the place, taking jewelry and home electronics. Finally they had to wait for Gregg to come back. Billy had tried unsuccessfully to off Gregg a few weeks ago and Pamela told him he'd better not screw up this time. The minutes ticked by and there was still no sign of Gregg anywhere. Pete asked where he was. Billy replied that he had no idea, but he'd better be here soon. He paused to rearrange the murder weapon, a snub-nosed revolver that J.R. had taken from his father's gun collection. Pete then asked how exactly they were going to kill him. Billy said they would jump him and Pete cut his throat with a knife they'd found in the kitchen. At some point they talked about beating Gregg with a brass candlestick.A short while later, headlights shined outside as Gregg pulled up in his '88 Toyota pickup. The rumble of the engine stopped as Gregg threw open the front door and called out to the dog. The boys jumped out and fell upon him. Assuming this was a robbery, Gregg did the instinctual thing and handed them his wallet. Pete ordered him to hand over his wedding band. Gregg replied "I can't do that, my wife will kill me." Billy took out the revolver, exclaimed "God forgive me," and pulled the trigger. A single shot went into Gregg's head. Flynn and Randall ran out of the condo, back to the getaway car where Lattime and Fowler waited, eventually making their way back home. Pam would later tell Billy that while driving to Hampton, she had actually seen their car on the road and had flicked her lights at them in greeting.
Within a few hours, a 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman announcing that her home had been burglarized and her husband killed. Derry was a very safe, low crime town and this was the only homicide reported there for 1990. The crime scene looked like a disrupted burglary. However, detectives knew something was amiss in how Pamela seemed very calm and un-worried given that her husband had just had a bullet put in his brain. Detective Dan Pelletier could not imagine anyone who was in this situation displaying her kind of behavior. She wanted to speak to police immediately, so she went downtown with them and said "This looks like a botched burglary. The first thing I saw was the speakers off the stand."Pelletier thought "The first thing she saw was the speakers? What about her husband on the floor? She said 'When I walked over to the body...'" Another red flag, but he didn't press Pamela on it. It did seem a little weird however for her to say "The body" instead of "My husband's body." Although Pelletier knew people have different ways of reacting to tragedy ranging from a total mental breakdown to stoic silence, Pamela had to be the calmest and least disturbed victim of a tragic loss he'd ever seen. She and not the detectives had insisted on giving an interview. If anything she seemed far more concerned about the fate of her dog and would bring up Halen to anyone in listening range, even when it was obvious that he was alive and well.
What made Pelletier seem really suspicious was on May 5 when they went down to the taped-off crime scene to collect some of her belongings. Pamela walked over the blood-soaked carpet where Gregg had fallen, not once but repeatedly. Finally her mother covered it with a towel, but she continued to step on the towel while everyone else walked around it. It was just one day after the murder that a detective told colleagues he believed Pamela was the guilty party here. Two weeks passed without any substantial leads when an anonymous female tipster called and claimed that Cecelia Pierce knew that Pamela and three teenage accomplices had killed Gregg. On June 10, J.R.'s father Vince brought a snub-nose .38 revolver to the Seabrook police station and said he thought it was the gun used to kill Gregg. The Lattimes knew that their son had mentioned Pamela in conversation before.Vince Lattime claimed he knew that J.R. and Pete had talked about committing a murder with another friend named Ralph Welch. Welch had known the two since grade school and was stunned that his childhood friends could do something like this. On June 11, detectives talked to Cecelia but it was a few more days before she told everything she knew. The boys were however still not talking. Cecelia was clearly no longer under Pam's thumb but Pam assumed nobody would believe a 16 year old over a grown 22 year old woman. Investigators set up two brief telephone intercepts and fixed Cecelia up with two body wire sessions.
During their conversations on July 12 and 13, Cecelia asked Pamela why she didn't just divorce Greg. The latter replied "Well I don't know, you know. Nothing was going wrong until they fucking told [Ralph Welch]." "No shit," Cecelia replied. Apparently Ralph was talking to police and others. "It's their stupid-ass faults that they told Ralph." "I can't believe they told him," said Cecelia. "Now they're in jail and every time I hear Motley Crue I think of Bill." "Yeah so do I. Tell me about it. That's the thing. I never fucking paid them. Somebody told me I gave J.R. a stereo and stuff. If they get certified as juveniles nobody will ever know and they'll all be out in a year when they turn 18, but I'm just like what the hell, I've already got the best friggin' lawyers anywhere." "You do?" "Yeah but they're fucking wicked expensive, but what can I do?""Obviously you can afford it." "No goddamn fucking way. Didn't I need them? But right now they don't have to do anything unless I'm arrested and if I get arrested they have to do shit. So they can't convict me 'cause of fucking J.R.'s 16 year old word in the slammer facing the rest of his life." "Well first of all you didn't offer to pay him, right?" "No." "So he's not gonna say you offered to pay him," Cecelia continued. "He's gonna say you knew about it before it happened, which is the truth." "Right. Well so then I'll have to say no I didn't and then they're either gonna believe me or they're gonna believe J.R. 16 years old in the slammer. And then who will they believe? Me with a professional reputation and of course that I teach. You know that's the thing. They're going to believe me." "Alright," said Cecelia. "Well, I'll call you." Pamela then offered for Cecelia to come over later so they could hang out at the mall. "You'd better be there," Pamela said in a jokey tone of voice, "Or I'll come after you with my Rambo knife."
On August 1, Dan Pelletier approached Pamela in the parking lot of the high school as she was arriving there to begin her day. She was unworried as she'd already talked to Pelletier several times, but this time he stared fixedly at her and said "Mrs. Smart, I'd like to inform you that we've solved the murder of your husband. The bad news is that you're under arrest?" "What for?" "First degree murder."Smart's trial in Rockingham County Superior Court began March 4, 1991; it was historically significant as one of the first criminal trials in the United States to be videotaped. Two months ago, Flynn, Randall, and Lattime all agreed to accept reduced charges and testify for the prosecution, which at the trial portrayed them as the hapless underage pawns of a megalomanical woman dead-set on snuffing her husband so she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of divorcing him and would also collect his $140,000 life insurance policy. Smart for her part confessed to her romantic involvement with Billy Flynn, but denied having orchestrated her husband's demise, which she said was the doing of Flynn and his friends after she told them she was ending her affair with Billy.
Cecelia testified that Billy and Pamela had just been friends until February 1990 when the latter told her she was in love with him. Billy also confessed that Pamela had taken his virginity. On March 22, the jury found her guilty of first degree murder, conspiracy, and witness tampering as she had tried to jawbone Cecelia into lying or not telling police anything. Although Pamela could have been sentenced to death, the prosecution did not seek the death penalty and she instead got life without parole.The state supreme court denied an appeal of hers in March 2023 and she continues to serve her sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York; she had originally been housed in New Hampshire State Prison For Women in Goffstown, but was transferred to the more secure New York facility two years into her sentence. Flynn and Randall were also sent out of state to Maine State Prison in Warren, Maine.
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections has never given any specific reason for transferring Smart to New York, although in 2007 an official at the state attorney general's office claimed it was due to disciplinary problems; Smart had accumulated 22 infractions at NHSPFW but most were minor ones. Another official, Denise Heath, claimed they distrusted having a high profile inmate like Smart in the prison and worried she could easily escape. New Hampshire does not have a formal prisoner exchange program with New York and Heath thought it was arranged on a personal agrrement between commissioners, while Smart's family said the transfer was done without informing them first. Smart continues to maintain her innocence, although she has admitted that her husband's death was caused by her affair with Billy Flynn. She has obtained college degrees during her time in prison.Smart was attacked and badly beaten by two other inmates in October 1996 after they accused her of snitching on their lesbian relationship. The beating left her with a broken nose and eye socket, which required a plastic plate to be inserted in the left side of her face. Both of her attackers were charged with assault and moved to different prisons. Smart has had recurring pain from the injuries and has to take regular painkillers.
In 2003, photos of Smart in her underwear were published in the National Enquirer. She filed a complaint against the prison and was punished with two months in solitary confinement. A year later her and fellow inmate Carolyn Warmus filed a lawsuit against the prison on the grounds that a male correctional officer had forced them to pose for the suggestive photos. A US district judge awarded her a $23,000 settlement of which 75% went to legal fees.Billy Flynn was sentenced to 40 to life. He earned his GED, has done charity work, and has worked as an electrician at the prison. In 2007 Flynn lobbied for a reduced sentence, citing his good behavior and work behind bars. This request was denied, although the parole board agreed to grant him the possibility of parole by 2015. He was paroled on time on March 12, 2015 and will have mandatory supervision for the rest of his life. Patrick Randall received a similar sentence, but was eligible for parole in 2018. A judge reduced his sentence and he was paroled June 4, 2015. Vince Lattime was sentenced to 30 to life as an accomplice; his sentence was reduced on appeal and he was paroled in 2005.
Cecelia Pierce, now Cecelia Blake, granted an interview to the media for the first time in 2016. She was now a married mother of a son and working in Albany, New Hampshire as a registered nurse. Pierce said she wished she'd never gotten involved with Pamela Smart and that she'd moved with her parents to Missouri shortly after the trial. She came back to New Hampshire in her 20s and took up a nursing career instead of journalism like she'd wanted to. Pierce said she abandoned her original dream because the whole experience with the trial caused her to lose faith in the journalistic field. "Everyone was just running whatever story they felt like." Pierce said she was harrassed and stalked by reporters and many of them were convinced that Smart was innocent because of her looks. "She was hot, so obviously she couldn't have done it," Pierce recalled.
>retarded womanchild who can't grow the fuck up and put high school behind her commits statutory rape and has her husband whacked by her fucktoy for wanting to act like an adultThis is exactly how much sympathy I have here.
WHEN I GET HIGH, I GET HIGH ON SPEEDTOP FUEL FUNNY CAR'S A DRUG FOR MEMY HEART, MY HEARTKICKSTART MY HEARTCome on, sing it with me!
>>18363426I'm sure that 16 year old boy was scarred for life by having sex with this hot 22 year old woman.
>>18363414hello where's the boobs?
>>18363383Gregg was a closet fag, come on. Why does he want to hang out with his male buddies all the time instead of banging his hot heavy metal loving honey?
>>18363385>still found time to organize a safe sex benefit, even talking a couple of rock groups into giving free performances
>>18363450since it was rock groups i'm pretty sure it was white as milk. if she was hanging out at a Keith Sweat gig then i'd be worried.
>>18363452Besides, New Hampshire is one of the whitest states there is.
EVERYBODY'S LOOKIN' FOR SOMETHINGSOMETHING TO FILL IN THE HOLESWE THINK A LOT BUT DON'T TALK MUCH ABOUT IT'TILL THINGS GET OUT OF CONTROL
>>18363416she descended from Franklin Pierce? it was New Hampshire.
>>18363457yes, emphasis on something to fill in the holes. wonder if this song was playing when her and Billy banged?
>>18363383>>18363379Sounds like she only listened to MTV metalslop for chicks, doubt she was bumping Testament or anything.
>>18363385>found time to organize a safe sex benefit>Her duties included distributing and producing educational videos for use in the school districtare these videos available online for purposes of historical research?
she was Polish so some psychopathy was to be expected
hello crime OP, this is actually interesting instead of nog murderer/rapist #284849
>>18363407>During their conversations on July 12 and 13, Cecelia asked Pamela why she didn't just divorce Greg. The latter replied "Well I don't know, you know. Nothing was going wrong until they fucking told [Ralph Welch]." "No shit," Cecelia replied. Apparently Ralph was talking to police and others. "It's their stupid-ass faults that they told Ralph." "I can't believe they told him," said Cecelia. "Now they're in jail and every time I hear Motley Crue I think of Bill." "Yeah so do I. Tell me about it. That's the thing. I never fucking paid them. Somebody told me I gave J.R. a stereo and stuff. If they get certified as juveniles nobody will ever know and they'll all be out in a year when they turn 18, but I'm just like what the hell, I've already got the best friggin' lawyers anywhere." "You do?" "Yeah but they're fucking wicked expensive, but what can I do?"the 80s was the very worst decade of all
>>18363383>>18363379>>18363388>>18363396This has been a White Woman Moment (TM)
>>18363426she is like my sister, except my sister didn't kill anyone (that i know of)
>>18363379Why do you post these retarded open and shut cases. Maybe if there was some injustice or if the case was contentious it would be interesting. It's just annoying and retarded wow a retard murdered someone and is in prison woah how interesting. Fuck off retard.
>>18363509not OP but would you rather another religion spam thread or how could Hitler have won thread?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cgb1SvYSVsShe did it, she's guilty as sin and she has never once acknowledged her guilt or expressed any sorrow over her husband's demise.
>>18363512i thought Burgerstan was a First World country? this sounds like something there'd be in Iran.
>>18363514Wonder what state that was? Sounds like something the South would do.
>>18363509I enjoy these stories. It's nice to read something more than 8 words. OP is either enjoying a hobby or working on making a true crime podcast.
>>18363516https://abcnews.com/US/oj-simpson-juror-thinks-simpson-now-decades-criminal/story?id=48730188It's not California because the OJ jurors have given interviews before and been asked their opinions on the case. I suppose the laws vary by state on how much jurors are and aren't allowed to speak to the media.
>>18363510>not OP but would you rather another religion spam thread or how could Hitler have won thread?those threads aren't ok either
>>18363529as does laws on how much of a trial can be taped or photographed. it's not allowed at all for Federal cases and some states mandate it at all times others only if the judge agrees to it.
>>18363446>ITS OKAY WHEN THE MAN IS THE VICTIM YOU CHUDS!!!How many more millenia must we endure before your kind is exiled from humanity?
>>18363512noticed Pamela has a slight Southern drawl probably because she lived in the South in her early years and would have already established her basic speech patterns by the time she moved to New England
>>18363542ah, ok
>>18363413>Smart was attacked and badly beaten by two other inmates in October 1996 after they accused her of snitching on their lesbian relationship. The beating left her with a broken nose and eye socket, which required a plastic plate to be inserted in the left side of her face. Both of her attackers were charged with assault and moved to different prisons. Smart has had recurring pain from the injuries and has to take regular painkillers.those must have been some mean fucking bulldykes who probably looked like Jabba the Hutt
>>18363408ok here's where it all went wrong for her. taking the stand in your own defense rarely ever works, it's almost as dumb as representing yourself. most lawyers if they're at all smart will not let their client defend themselves.
>>18363469Pierce is, specifically, a Welsh surname and she does look Welsh. While I couldn't say if the president was an ancestor of hers, it's certainly possible given the region of the country.
>>18363379>the middle of three children born to John and Linda Wojassince Wojas is a Spanish surname it was probably altered from Wojak or Woyak at some point since she's the most Polish-looking person I've ever seen
Still not entirely convinced Gregg wasn't a closet case.
>>18363561Women are way more violent than men precisely because they are physically weaker, so they don't have the impulse of holding back or controlling the strength they apply during an assault
>>18363509>completely irrelevant coomb8 picDenounce Vishnu.
>>18363475My babysitters like crap like Bon Jovi and Stryper. I grew to like bands like Incantation and Asphyx, the latter of which I'm listening to.
>>18364316Liking Bon Jovi is pretty based for a woman
