Pamela Smart says she dreams of freedom every day
BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. — Pamela Smart said she can't imagine living the rest of her life in prison, where she has been sentenced for her role in the death of her husband.
She said her sentence of life without parole is unfair compared to the sentences handed out to the other people involved in the case. Billy Flynn, the man who shot and killed Gregg Smart, may go free in June after he was granted parole.
"It's hard for people to understand that this really means life," she said. "It's a very serious sentence, and honestly, I think it's worse than the death penalty. It is, because even the death penalty has an end."
Pamela Smart was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and accomplice to first-degree murder for orchestrating the murder of her husband.
Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Pamela Smart said her sentence is unjust compared to his.
"I think forgiveness is a good thing, but why is there no forgiveness for me?" she said.
Pamela Smart spoke to News 9's Jean Mackin from the maximum-security Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York where she is serving her sentence.
May 1 will mark 25 years since Flynn killed Gregg Smart. He testified that his lover, Pamela Smart, the 22-year-old director of media services at Winnacunnet High School, convinced him to pull the trigger.
Pamela Smart said that isn't true.
"No. Absolutely no," she said. "I didn't want him to. I didn't ask him to."
She said that's why she can't express remorse.
"I can't have remorse for something that I didn't do," she said.
She said her greatest responsibility and greatest mistake was having a relationship with the teenager.
"I think somewhere psychologically, I didn't want to feel responsible in any way for this horrible crime, but now I've come to a place where I know my bad choices and my bad decisions contributed to what happened and contributed to Gregg's death," she said.
With her appeals exhausted, Pamela Smart said she wants the governor and Executive Council to consider a sentence reduction that would give her an opportunity at parole, like the four teen boys convicted in the crime.
"I don't think that's fair, and I think the governor should take a second look at my sentence and would hope that she would grant me the mercy and compassion that was extended to them," Pamela Smart said.
She said it's difficult to change hearts and minds in New Hampshire, where she insists an unfair trial, media coverage and Hollywood movies have created a caricature of the real Pamela Smart.
"I can see why people hate me," she said. "I have no problem understanding why people hate me because of everything they've been fed, but it's just not true."
While she's not permitted to contact her husband's family, she said she's hoping they also reconsider.
"I would hope they would find a place where they could let go of the hatred that they have toward me," she said.
In an interview with News 9 before he died, Gregg Smart's father said there was a chance the family might begin to change their minds.
"I'm just saying to her if she ever admits that she did it, we may have other considerations to talk to her about at that time," Bill Smart said. "At this time, we just want to go on with our lives and be happy."
Pamela Smart said that admitting to the crime is something she can't do.
"To me, that's very sad, and I've thought if I actually committed this murder and was guilty, I would probably be released, and because I've maintained my innocence and I've continued to do so, then I'm eternally punished for that," she said.
In prison, she has her own cell, 7 by 10 feet. She's a peer counselor and a leader in the church.
Her mother and father visit several times a year, and she admits she dreams about being free one day.
"Oh, I think about being free. Every single day, every day," she said. "I definitely dream about it, but I think about it every day. And there are days I say to myself, 'What if I never get out of here? What if I die in here?"
http://www.wmur.com/special-reports/...y-day/31874724
Bookmarks