Naman Shrestha
Upon the discovery of Gregg Smart’s body inside his Derry, New Hampshire, residence in 1990, a wave of grief took over his family and friends. When the news broke out to the public, the entire community was left shell-shocked and concerned while the investigators tried their best to solve the case as soon as possible. In the episode titled ‘Broken Vows’ of ABC’s ’20/20,’ the entire murder case is profiled while his loved ones and the officials linked to the case talk about Gregg, the circumstances that led to his demise, and the aftermath.
Gregg Smart Was Found Dead on the Floor of His House in 1990
Greggory (Gregory) William “Gregg” Smart was a promising young man who had a lot of things going for him and had a bright future in front of him. Unfortunately, he met his demise before his time. Born to a pair of loving parents, William Jay “Bill” Smart and Judith Ann Belliveau Smart, on September 4, 1965, in Nashua, New Hampshire, Gregory was also accompanied by a couple of brothers — Ricky J. Smart and Dean J. Smart — while growing up. After graduating from Londonderry High School in 1983, he went to Metropolitan Creer Success School in Warwick, Rhode Island.
When he crossed paths with Pamela, Gregg quickly fell head over heels in love with her, so much so that he even moved all the way to Florida to be with her. Deeply in love, the couple tied the knot and made their relationship official on May 7, 1989, after which they moved back to New Hampshire. They purchased a condominium in a well-to-do neighborhood in Derry and led a happily married life. While he was employed as an insurance agent, Pamela served as the director of media services at Winnacunnet High School. Their seemingly picture-perfect lives were torn apart on May 1, 1990.
That day, Pamela had an important board meeting to attend at the school, making her reach home later than usual. As soon as she opened the door to the house, she was met with a haunting crime scene — her husband’s body lying on the floor. Not knowing what to do and how to deal with it, she went over to a neighbor’s house and asked them to call 911 and report the incident. When the authorities arrived at the scene of the crime, they discovered that the residence had been ransacked. Upon inspecting the body, they determined the cause of Gregg’s death to be the bullet wound on the back of his head.
The Murder of Gregg Smart Was Masterminded by Someone Close to Him
Although the crime scene looked like a disrupted burglary, the police noticed several irregularities with that theory. Discarding it, the investigators began interviewing the loved ones and other acquaintances of the victim in order to learn as much about Gregg and his life as possible. They soon discovered that the marriage between Gregg and Pamela was not as smooth sailing as they had led others to believe. Not long before his death, Gregg allegedly cheated on his wife, leading to cracks in their relatively new marriage.
There was no significant development in the case until June 10, 1990, when a man brought a .38 caliber pistol he owned to the police station, claiming that it could be the murder weapon used in the killing of Gregg. Upon examining the handgun, it turned out to be the actual murder weapon. This revelation led them to a teenager named Ralph Welch, who pointed the police in the direction of three teenage students — William “Billy” Flynn, Patrick “Pete” Allen Randall, and Vance Lattime Jr. — at Winnacunnet High School, where Pamela worked. On June 11, 1990, Ralph claimed that he had heard that they were hired by Pamela to get rid of her husband for $200.
On suspicion of murder, the three teenagers were taken into custody the very next day, on June 11, 1990. Another witness named Cecelia Pierce spoke to the police about a conversation she had heard between Billy and Pamela, discussing the murder of Gregg. As the detectives connected the dots, they learned that Pamela and 15-year-old Billy were involved in a relationship and had conspired to kill her husband in order to stay together without losing any of the possessions over a divorce settlement. On July 12, 1990, the police wired up Cecelia in an attempt to record something incriminating that Pamela might say during a conversation, and their plan was fruitful.
Gregg’s Wife and Other Accomplices Received Punishment For Their Crimes
According to Billy, Pamela threatened to leave him if he failed to go through with the murder of her husband. So, he and his two friends, Pete and Vance, joined forces to ambush Gregg at his house on May 1, 1990. As Vance waited in the car, Billy and Pete entered the Smarts’ condominium. The former shot him in the head while Pete restrained him using a knife. In less than a month after Cecelia was wired up, on August 1, 1990, Pamela was arrested on the school premises and charged with accomplice to first-degree murder. Moreover, as Billy and the other two accomplices took a plea deal to get lighter sentences in exchange for their testimony in Pamela’s trial, another accomplice named Raymond Fowler was taken into custody.
On March 22, 1991, after a 14-day trial, Pamela Ann Smart was found guilty by the jury and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, being an accomplice to first-degree murder, and witness tampering. During the trial, the prosecutors argued that the defendant had Gregg Smart murdered over his $140,000 life insurance policy. Subsequently, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On the other hand, William “Bill” Flynn, Patrick “Pete” Allen Randall, and Vance Lattime Jr. were sentenced to life in prison but were eligible for parole after 40 years, 40 years, and 30 years, respectively. Meanwhile, Raymond Fowler received a 30-year imprisonment sentence for conspiracy to murder and attempted burglary, with parole eligibility scheduled after 15 years.
Read More: Pamela Smart: Where is the Killer Now?
