I'm not sure how i feel about this he was 16 years old when he killed pam smarts husband ,she was the master mind and for those unfamilar his teacher he has served 15 years i believe of his 28 year min sentence .He has been an outstanding prisoner teaches aids classes etc....at 16 he mind was'nt even fully developed at that age but yet i cant help but think of her husband begging for his life on his knees before he pulled the trigger anyone have any thoughts ? the family has excepted his aplogy for their sons death but feels he should remain in prison now that he is out of her web though he has made a complete turn around ,even got writen statements from his CO's

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A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
~ Leo Buscaglia

HAMPTON -- The teenage lover of Pamela Smart who shot and killed her husband 17 years ago is asking a judge for a reduction in his prison sentence.

Billy Flynn, 33, inmate of Maine State Prison in Warren, filed the request last week at Rockingham County Superior Court.

"I have never asked for one, until now, because as terrible of a place as prison is I know I deserved to be here," stated Flynn, in a six-page letter to Judge Kenneth McHugh asking for the reduction.

Flynn, originally from Seabrook, was 15 years old when he shot and killed Gregory Smart at the Derry condo he shared with his wife. He confessed he was having an affair with Pamela Smart, who was 22 at the time, and that she persuaded him to murder her husband so they could be together.

Flynn met Pamela Smart at Winnacunnet High School; he was a student and she worked as the school's media services director. Flynn, who was sentenced in 1992 to a 40-year-to-life sentenced for second-degree murder, is not eligible for parole until 2018.

Flynn said the reason why he didn't file for a sentence reduction until now was because he deserved to be there.

"I decided a long time ago that before I could ask you for a sentence reduction in good conscience I would have to spend as many years behind bars as I had been alive prior to my arrest," stated Flynn.

In the letter, he even apologizes to the Smart family by saying he "will never be worthy of their forgiveness but I desperately want them to know how truly sorry I am and always be."

Gregory Smart's father, Bill Smart, could not be reached for comment. Smart's brother, Dean Smart, said if anything, Flynn's sentence should be lengthened, not shortened.

"I think he should stay there," Smart said.

Flynn wrote that while behind bars he tried to right the wrongs he had done by being a model prisoner, mentoring at-risk teens and volunteering for many charities including Locks 4 Love and Toys for Tots.

"One cannot overwhelm a sin with good deed," stated Flynn. "You must make amends for the sin. But how do you make amends for taking a life? You can't."

While incarcerated, Flynn received his GED, is a member of the Christian prisoner's group and is paid to work at the prison as an electrician's assistant.

He also married a woman he met six years ago through written correspondence. Flynn's letter is part of a 100-page filing that includes letters of support from friends, his wife and step-daughter, prison guards and nonprofits he worked with while behind bars.

In 2005, Judge McHugh granted a three-year sentence reduction to Vance Lattime, who drove the getaway car the night of Gregory Smart's murder.

Lattime, who served 13 of his original 18-year sentence, was paroled in August 2005. Another man, Raymond Fowler - who was in the getaway car with Lattime - was paroled in April 2003.

Patrick Randall, who held Gregory Smart down while Flynn shot him, remains incarcerated and his earliest parole date is June 4, 2018.

Lawyer Mark Stevens, who represents Randall, said they are planning to also ask for a sentence reduction.

Pamela Smart remains behind bars at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York, serving a life sentence for being an accomplice to first-degree murder

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A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
~ Leo Buscaglia

Even when I don't go into the discussion of how ridiculously long the prison sentences in the States are, I think that this man has done enough time. He was a minor, who was heavily influenced by an adult he was in a relationship with. Does anybody else see the twist? When it comes to a sexual relationship between a minor and an adult, the minor is the victim and the adult is the predator. But when that same minor - heavily under the influence of that adult - commits a crime, America treats him as an adult and sends him to prison for 40 years?

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What ever happen to the lady?

Macy,
I happen to agree with you.

15 year old boy, thinking he is in love, then being influenced on top of this. it makes me wonder how come the courts cant see this.

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I need coffee

she is serving life for conspiracy to commit murder and a accomplice to first-degree murder ,he was remorseful at trial and all three were helpful as well as the girl who knew about the murders and was not charged. I think at one time this would have been a juvinal offence for the three boys not taking away from pain the smart family must feel but if ever there was a case where a question of rehabilitation comes in i think he has proved he is no longer that 16 year old boy

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A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
~ Leo Buscaglia

I agree with Macy,
To add if it is of sexual nature, they are still a minor and under adult influence, even if the victim was a underage male" too. Gender does not matter only age.

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Macy said it well.

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The last of all freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
G. W. Allport.

I have mixed feelings about this case. It is often discussed around these parts as it took place in NH. If Billy Flynn had been tried as a minor, it is likely that a 5 year sentence would have been imposed by the juvenile court system and he would have been released at age 21. 5 years for murder?? I can’t say that sits well with me in good conscious given the facts of the case. Be that as it may, he took a plea and turned state's evidence against Pamela Smart to avoid trial on the charge of 1st degree execution style murder. He agreed to accept 2nd degree and 12 years was shaved from his sentence at the get go. There is a great deal of animosity directed towards Flynn and Pamela Smart to this day. You also need to be careful who you are speaking with as people can have direct ties with an involved party.


Though I sympathize with the Smart family over their loss, I feel strongly that Flynn has made changes in his life and is NOT the same insecure boy he was at age 16. I don’t think he needs to serve the entire 40 year sentence just to get this point across and I don’t believe that he will pose any kind of a threat to the general public. If I was a judge, I would strongly consider his proposal or at least set his parole hearing to earlier than age 40 if he continues to do well in prison. I can tell you that many around here do not share my sentiment but I feel it’s fair.

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"Thats it then, they will go on double, secret, probation..."

Most states can prosecute a juvenile over the age of 14 as an adult. That NH elected to do so was likely grounded in the heinousness of the crime. Has he been prosecuted as a juvenile offender his sentene would have been much less severe.

While the murder was carried out very callously, the fact remains that the kid was surely under Ms. Smart's adult influence. It therefore seems prudent that he be granted a sentence reduction now in that he has obviously accepted his punishment as a man ... a man that went to prison as a kid.

Yes, but what about all the other KIDS that sit in prison as MEN now and have never pulled a trigger? I don't understand how some can be given a sentence of 9 years for murdering a husband in cold blood, one that did nothing but love and care for his family, while another wife receives life for instigating the death? Why do you get so many cases that have such a great divide when the out come is the same?

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The last of all freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances.
G. W. Allport.