The Hunting Knife: A Backup Plan

A little after 10:00 pm on the evening of May 1, 1990, Pamela Smart returned home from work to find her husband, twenty-four-year-old Gregg Smart, lying dead just beyond the front door of their condominium, a single bullet hole in his head. Detectives from the small town of Derry, NH arrived to find what appeared to be the scene of a robbery; though, very little looked to have been stolen and to investigators the scene felt staged. Two days later, Derry Police Captain Loring Jackson announced that Gregg Smart’s death wasn’t a random attacked, he’d been murdered by someone who knew him. The murder of Gregg Smart, and the trial that followed, shocked the population of New Hampshire, where it remains perhaps the most notorious criminal trial in the state’s history. As the first criminal trial to be televised from beginning to end, the case of Pamela Smart and her teenage lover captivated a national audience, leading to television and feature films, several nonfiction books, and countless television specials in the decades that followed.

Special thank you to the brilliant David White for research assistance

References

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—. 1990. "Widow charged as accomplice." Concord Monitor, August 2: 14.

Carton, Barbara. 1991. "The Pamela Smart story." Boston Globe, Marcg 21.

1991. NH v. Smart: Opening Statements. Directed by Court TV. Performed by Court TV.

Derry News. 1990. "Family and friends puzzle over murder." Derry News, May 4: 1.

Englade, Ken. 1991. Deadly Lessons. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.

Gaines, Judith, and Alexander Reid. 1991. "Jurors say tales a key to their decision." Boston Globe, March 23: 1.

Hernandez, Monica. 2023. Accomplice in Smart murder asks for sentence reduction. January 10. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://www.wmur.com/article/smart-murder-vance-lattime-sentence-reduction/42449265.

Hohler, Bob. 1991. "3 guilty in N.H. killing." Boston Globe, January 30: 1.

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—. 1991. "Smart pleaded for life, N.H. teen-ager testifies." Boston Globe, March 6: 19.

—. 1991. "Tales of seduction." Boston Globe, March 12: 1.

—. 1990. "Tape offered at Smart hearing." Boston Globe, August 14.

—. 1991. "Witness: Smart asked for tips on reaction." Boston Globe, March 3: 27.

—. 1991. "Youth says blood flowed, tears did not." Boston Globe, March 13: 35.

Kilgannon, Corey. 2023. "Smart, who plotted with a teen lover to kill her husband, loses a parole bid." New York Times, March 30.

Kittredge, Clare. 1991. "A verdict to take to son's grave." Boston Globe, March 23: 1.

—. 1991. "Smart trial garners big TV audience." Boston Globe, March 17: 1.

Richardson, Franci. 1990. "Mrs. Smart absolutely convinced husband surprised thief." Derry News, May 9: 1.

Sawicki, Stephen. 1991. Teach Me to Kill: The Shocking True Story of the Pamela Smart Murder Case. New York, NY: Avon Books.

Schweitzer, Sarah. 2015. "5 years later, shooter to go free: William Flynn was 16 when he was lured into murder by Pamela Smart." Boston Globe, March 13: A1.

State of New Hampshire v. Pamela Smart. 1993. 622 A.2d 1197 (Supreme Court of New Hampshire, February 26).

Wang, Beverley. 2005. "Pamela Smart accomplice released." Concord Monitor, June 15: 10.

West, Nancy. 2016. Breaking Silence: Cecelia Pierce Speaks. October 12. Accessed April 24, 2023. https://www.nhmagazine.com/breaking-silence-cecelia-pierce-speaks/.

West, Nancy, and David Mendelsohn. 2016. Pamela Smart: innocent of (still) guilty. October 13. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.nhmagazine.com/pamela-smart-innocent-or-still-guilty/  

https://www.bostonherald.com/2015/03/09/brother-of-pamela-smarts-victim-killer-did-his-time/

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