Pamela Smart’s lover has been freed after serving 25 years for her husband’s murder.
William Flynn, known as Billy, was 16-years-old when he and three of his friends carried out what prosecutors called Pamela’s plan to kill her husband, Gregg Smart, in Derry, New Hampshire. Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, according to the Reading Eagle , and was ordered to serve out his sentence in Maine.
The board granted Flynn’s parole on his first attempt, which happened to be his 41st birthday in March. William told the board that he regrets his actions and will always be haunted by the murder.
Pamela Smart’s former teen lover Billy Flynn is released from prison three months after h… http://t.co/4A1IcPLCM6 … via @MailOnline
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“I will always feel terrible about what happened 25 years ago,” he said. “Parole will not change that.”
Flynn testified during the 1991 trial that Pamela had threatened to break up with him if he didn’t carry out her husband’s murder.
Patrick “Pete” Randall, who held a knife to Gregg while Flynn shot him in the head, was also released on parole in New Hampshire. Both boys were sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. The other two teens, who were involved in the killing, were sentenced and have since been released from prison.
At the time her husband was killed, Pamela Smart was a 22-year-old high school teacher who taught the boys. She admits to seducing Flynn, but said she never knew that they planned on murdering her husband. Pamela was sentenced to life without parole, and is currently serving her sentence.
Pamela still claims she did nothing wrong except having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
“I do have remorse I have a lot of remorse for the things that I did do. But I cannot have remorse for something I didn’t do,” Smart told WBZ-TV .
“It is the hugest regret of my life,” Smart continued. “I know that if I didn’t have this relationship, Gregg would still be alive, and he deserves to be alive. He was a great person.”
The trial inspired the Joyce Maynard novel To Die For , which was later turned into a film starring Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, and Joaquin Phoenix.
“They didn’t actually know it was based on my case. But I did,” Smart recalled.
What do you think about Pamela Smart’s lover being freed? Should she be released as well? Leave your comments below.
[Photo via YouTube screenshot]
