Parole board in N.H. frees killer in Pamela Smart case

By Sarah Schweitzer GLOBE STAFF MARCH 12, 2015

The triggerman in New Hampshire’s sensational Pamela Smart murder case was granted parole Thursday, his 41st birthday, 25 years after the trial unfolded on a world stage, riveting television viewers with its details of sex, violence, and a teacher baiting her young lover.

William Flynn was just 16 in May 1990 when he shot and killed Smart’s husband, Gregory, at their Derry, N.H., condo. Flynn later told police that he had been having an affair with Pamela Smart, his teacher, and that she had persuaded him to murder her husband.

Flynn and three other boys involved in the murder testified against Smart, who was sentenced to life in prison for being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and witness tampering.

Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.

Speaking by phone from prison in Maine, Flynn told a New Hampshire parole board, “I will always feel terrible for what happened 25 years ago. Parole will not change that. The regret and responsibility that I feel are a part to me and not conditional on where I reside.”

Gregg Smart’s brother, Dean Smart, battling tears, encouraged Flynn to do something “great” with his life after his release, scheduled for June 4.

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