Conspiracy to ‘pull the strings’ of a teen lover of a man who is bored with her husband

Pamela Wojas married Gregory Smart in 1989 at the age of 22. They met at a party when student Pamela was visiting family in New Hampshire for the Christmas break in 1986.

Gregory moved to Florida to live with Pamela while she completed her communications degree at Florida State University. Pamela dreamed of becoming a television reporter, but could not find a job in the right industry, with a high salary after graduation. The couple moved back to New Hampshire after her mother Pamela landed her a position as director of communications services, responsible for news production and managing video libraries for 11 schools in southeastern New Hampshire. Gregory is in the life insurance business.

They rented an apartment near Gregory’s parents’ house and lived a happy married life. But less than a year into their marriage, Gregory confessed to Pamela that he “had a one-night stand”.

At that time, she met a 15-year-old student named Billy Flynn while volunteering at school. The male student who is 6 years younger always gets her heart and gradually makes her fall in love. The two became secret lovers and crossed the line on Billy’s 16th birthday. Pamela believes that her husband’s confession of having an affair has pushed her away.

On May 1, 1990, six days before their one-year wedding anniversary, Pamela returned home from a school meeting and reported to the police that her 24-year-old husband had died in a pool of blood on the floor, and the apartment had been ransacked. From the initial scene, police thought that Gregory might have been killed by a burglar.

The turning point came six weeks later, Vance Lattime Sr. went to the police station with the gun saying it was probably the gun that was aimed at Gregory. A friend of Vance’s son confessed this to him.

After comparing, the police found that the bullets fired from this gun matched the bullet that killed Gregory.

During questioning, Ralph Welch, a classmate of Vance Lattime Jr., said he heard Pete Randall and Lattime Jr. recounted how he murdered Gregory. Accordingly, a group of four people including Pete, Lattime Jr., Billy and Raymond Fowler joined the murder. Lattime Jr. Drive the gang to Gregory’s house, Billy and Pete break into the apartment while Raymond waits in the car. Pete holds Gregory’s head for Billy to shoot. Then they staged the scene as a burglary.

Ralph also told police that he heard from two friends that Pamela had promised each of them $500 after receiving $140,000 in life insurance from her husband.

When the police have yet to find a connection between Pamela and the four boys, Cecilia Pierce, Billy’s classmate and acquaintance with Pamela, provides clues that Pamela is having an affair with Billy – the shooter who shot Gregory.

Four teenagers pleaded guilty after agreeing to cooperate to have their sentences reduced. They told the investigator that Pamela had orchestrated the murder down to the smallest detail. She leaves an unlocked entrance so they can make a surprise attack when Gregory gets home, instructing them to make the scene look like the heist, Lattime Jr. bought guns with money given to him by Pamela.

Billy said he was forced to commit a crime by Pamela. “She was beautiful, smart, mature… and liked me. She said the only option was to kill him,” Billy told police. According to Billy, Pamela said she hated her husband and kept talking about her plan to kill her husband.

On August 1, 1990, Pamela was arrested, becoming the center of the media in her first trial in 1991.

The case relies heavily on testimonies from four teenagers. The prosecution identified Pamela as a cold-blooded mastermind who controlled his underage lover with sexual attraction. However, Pamela denied it all. She believes that the murder is the act of Billy and his friends alone, after she said she wanted to end the relationship to repair the marriage.

On March 22, 1991, a jury found Pamela guilty of witness bribery, conspiracy to commit murder, and complicity in first-degree murder. The crime of bribing witnesses came from Pamela inciting Cecilia to lie to the police. Pamela was sentenced to life in prison without parole. She pleaded not guilty.

In 1992, Billy and Pete were sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder but were released in 2015 by parole. Lattime Jr. was also sentenced to life in prison for complicity in second-degree murder, pardoned in 2005. Raymond was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempted murder and theft but only served 13 years.

Pamela asked for a pardon in 2004 but was denied because she always blamed without accepting responsibility and expressed remorse.

The four men involved in the murder were pardoned, prompting Pamela’s supporters to suggest that gender played a role in the case. Steinem, a leader of the feminist movement in the US, called Pamela’s sentence “a great injustice”.

Pamela’s case has been the subject of many literary and film and television works. In 1992, author Joyce Maynard published a novel To Die For based on articles on Pamela. Film adaptation To Die For starring Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix, released in 1995, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Pamela’s family allege that the media had an adverse effect on her sentence and contributed to her failure to receive parole. Thousands of articles were written about Pamela when the case was brought to trial, portraying her as “the ice princess”, the “black widow” and paying too much attention to her appearance. According to Pamela, the character in the novel and movie To Die For completely unlike her, but gives the viewer the impression that Pamela Smart is a cunning killer.

In prison, Pamela is studying for a Doctor of Pastoral Degree, after earning a master’s degree in jurisprudence from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in English literature from Mercy College. She is a complaints representative and HIV prevention consultant for fellow prisoners and dreams of working for the United Nations on HIV prevention if released.

Tue Anh (Follow Abcnews, Washington Post)