Justice in New Hampshire
A 15-year retrospective of the Pamela Smart murder trial
A special project done exclusively for the Equinox by investigative reporting students at Keene State College
Editor's Note: This letter was received May 10, 2006 in response to the project "Justice in New Hampshire." The project was a 15-year retrospective of the Pam Smart case and was published April 20, 2006. My mom sent me the Equinox a few days ago. I feel compelled to write all of you and let you know that it was very refreshing to read what I feel was accurate and fair reporting.
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Since March 22, 1991, prisoner 93GO456 has never seen the view beyond prison walls. She has never seen hybrid cars or ipods. She has not voted in the last four elections. She has not blown out birthday candles or unwrapped Christmas presents under her family tree in almost 16 years.
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The one person who would know the true tragedy of the Pam Smart murder trial can't say anything. He won't be able to tell us about his reaction the night he came home from work and was shot in the head. He can't talk about his innocence in relation to the severity of the crime committed on him, and never will we hear from Greg Smart that this whole thing started when a young marriage began to fall apart.
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Like most insurance agents, Greg Smart's work day on May 1, 1990 stretched past 5 p.m., what with clients to call or counsel, paperwork to file or forms to complete. He pulled into his driveway at 4E Misty Morning Drive in Derry, N.H. He unlocked his front door to the condo he shared with his wife of less than a year, Pam.
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Vance Lattime, Jr. took full blame for supplying the murder weapon and the getaway car for the murder of Gregory Smart more than 15 years ago. In May of 1990, Lattime openly contracted with Bill Flynn to go along and help him cold bloodedly kill Pamela Smart's husband, Greg Smart.
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For Raymond Fowler May 1, 1990 was supposed to be an easy ride to Misty Morning Drive for some free stuff. This would not have been Fowler's first endeavor at burglary, if he had actually gone through with it, but plans were twisted and someone was left dead.
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On July 4, 1954 the pregnant wife of Cleveland Osteopath Dr. Sam Sheppard was found dead in her bedroom, stabbed more than 24 times. The brutal murder of Marilyn Sheppard rocked the sleepy suburb of Bay View, Ohio and soon became the obsession of the media, the people of Cleveland and the rest of the United States.
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Sex, lies, murder and heavy metal music were all pieces feeding a media frenzy in the Pam Smart case. In the early 1990s the Pam Smart murder case was all consuming in the local and national media. The case was scrutinized and tried on the front pages of newspapers in New Hampshire, the New England region and beyond.
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Photos from the time period show a plump girl, usually disheveled with clothes that don't quite fit and aren't quite cool enough-with a look of yearning, always the yearning to belong, to be part of that which passes for high school cool. Her downcast eyes and slumped shoulders made her a perfect candidate for Pamela Smart's self-esteem class, Project Self-Esteem.
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Bill Flynn was the new kid on the block. He, his mother Elaine, and two brothers moved to Seabrook, N.H. from sunny California. They moved to New England to start a new life, a life that was all the way across the country from his father's, whose life all too suddenly came to an end.
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From the witness stand, Patrick Randall announced his life ambition was to be a "professional hit man," according to many key players in the trial. We have heard the story of Pam Smart, but how much have we been told about the four teens that surround the actual murder? Throughout the journey to find the truth behind the Smart murder, there have been many roadblocks.
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If Pam Smart's case was like any usual crime story, it would begin with the conspiracy, climax with the murder, and conclude with her conviction. Fifteen years after she was found guilty, the story still continues as she goes through a slew of high profile lawyers and strategies in her appeals to go free.
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Fifteen years ago Pam Smart's murder trial, which began on March 4, 1991, rocked a small New Hampshire community and sent the nation reeling. As details of the plot to kill her husband, his execution style shooting and Smart's affair with the 16-year-old trigger-man unfolded; media from around the globe converged upon the small Exeter courtroom with a gold-rush like abandon.
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In the gray pre-dawn, two black SUVs with tinted windows rolled out of Elliot Hall's parking lot, bound for a maximum security prison three states away. They were ready to visit Pam Smart. All 12 Keene State College students were equipped with the prison's regulations, wearing nondescript shirts or sports jerseys and holding the only two things visitors take to prison - a photo id and either a roll of quarters or dollar bills.
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It only took a few minutes for the Executive Council to determine the fate of Pam Smart by unanimously denying her request for a pardon hearing, but the cards were stacked against her long before the hearing in Concord on the afternoon July 13, 2005. "A pardon is unusual," said New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte.
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It only took a few minutes for the Executive Council to determine the fate of Pam Smart by unanimously denying her request for a pardon hearing, but the cards were stacked against her long before the hearing in Concord on the afternoon July 13, 2005. "A pardon is unusual," said New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte.
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Since 1990, 224 pardons have been submitted in the state of New Hampshire, but only three have been accepted, and Pam Smart was not one of them. Smart earned a life sentence without parole for her role in masterminding the murder of her husband Greg Smart.
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