Pamela Smart (case)
Gregg Smart, 24, was shot dead in his Derry, New Hampshire, condominium on May 1, 1990. The gunman, 15-year-old William Flynn, was a student at the school where Smart's wife Pamela worked. Pamela Smart was convicted in 1991 as an accomplice to first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. A commutation hearing was refused in 2025 and a habeas petition was dismissed in September 2026.
- Status
- Conviction
- Type
- Homicide
- Date
- May 1, 1990
- Location
- Derry, New Hampshire
- Age
- 24
- Gender
- Male
- Decade
- 1990s
- Open
- Partly resolved
- Charges or trial
- ClosedConviction
At least one person was convicted in connection with the case.
Case background and investigation
Gregory "Gregg" Smart, 24, was shot and killed at the condominium he shared with his wife, Pamela, in Derry, New Hampshire, on May 1, 1990. Pamela Smart, then 22, worked as a media coordinator at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, according to WCAX and Wikipedia; she was attending a meeting at the time of the killing, InDepthNH reported.
Investigators established that the shooting was carried out by William "Billy" Flynn, a 15-year-old student at the school with whom Pamela Smart was having an affair, together with teenage friends. According to Wikipedia, a friend of Smart's, Cecelia Pierce, wore a recording device for police, and Pamela Smart was arrested on August 1, 1990.
Smart's trial ran in March 1991, and on March 22, 1991, a jury convicted her of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering, according to Wikipedia. She received a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Flynn and another teenager, Patrick Randall, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder; Flynn was released in 2015 after about 25 years in custody, and the other teenagers who cooperated with prosecutors have also been freed, WCAX reported.
For decades Smart denied involvement. In June 2024 she released a video in which she accepted responsibility for her husband's death, WCAX reported. She then asked the governor and Executive Council to commute her sentence, but in late May 2025 Governor Kelly Ayotte declined to grant a hearing, saying the request did not merit one, according to WCAX and InDepthNH.
In January 2026 Smart filed a habeas corpus petition in Merrimack County Superior Court seeking a new trial, arguing that transcripts of recorded conversations played at her trial misled jurors. On September 17, 2026, Judge Jack Kennedy dismissed the petition, ruling that the claims could have been raised in earlier appeals and that habeas corpus is not a substitute for a direct appeal, NHPR reported. She remains serving her life sentence.
Timeline
-
May 1, 1990Gregg Smart, 24, is shot and killed at his condominium in Derry, New Hampshire.
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August 1, 1990Pamela Smart is arrested.
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March 22, 1991A jury convicts Pamela Smart of accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy and witness tampering; she is sentenced to life without parole.
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2015William Flynn, the gunman, is released after serving about 25 years.
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June 2024Smart releases a video statement accepting responsibility for her husband's death.
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May 2025Governor Kelly Ayotte declines to grant a commutation hearing.
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January 2026Smart files a habeas corpus petition seeking a new trial.
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July 20, 2026Merrimack County Superior Court hears arguments on the state's motion to dismiss.
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September 17, 2026Judge Jack Kennedy dismisses the habeas petition.
Sources
References used for this entry. ColdCaseIndex is an index of public information. To report an error, email info@coldcaseindex.com.
About this entry
This case is recorded as conviction and is kept in the index for its historical and investigative significance. At least one person was convicted in connection with the case.
To report an error on this page, email info@coldcaseindex.com.
Entry last updated September 29, 2026.
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