this is "nightline." tonight. crime and punishment. pamela smart, convicted of conspiring with her teenage lover to kill her husband. >> she started yelling at me. she said if you're never going to do this, i'm going to go right now. >> did you mastermind -- >> absolutely not. >> now, our new jailhouse interview, fight for freedom. 30 years later, the trigger man is free. why isn't she? does her punishment fit the crime? what does redemption mean to you? and what's the one thing she could possibly do to get out? "nightline" will be right back.

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husband's murder maintains her innocence. her story making headlines then and now. >> my name is pamela smart. i've been incarcerated for 29 years of a life without parole sentence. i have been portrayed as black widow, ice princess, a killer, and none of those things could be further from the truth. >> she was cast as the seductress, caught in the middle of a media firestorm. >> guilty or not guilty? >> guilty. >> reporter: pamela smart, convicted of conspiracy to murder her husband. sentenced to life in prison without parole for manipulating her teenaged lover, billy flinn into pulling the trigger. this story had it all. a beautiful, young woman. a seductress of a young teenaged boy. >> reporter: now nearly three decades into her prison

sentence, she still maintains her innocence. did you mastermind the murder. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: and argues that whether or not you believe she's guilty, her sentence of life without papatrol has robbed her of any chance at pfreedom. even as the alleged trigger man is out of prison. >> i'm not asking you to judge whether you think i'm guilty or innocenc innocent. i'm asking if this is the kind of justice people want in america. >> reporter: it all starts in miami, florida. pamela is one of three children. her mother, a homemaker, who took home making very seriously. >> she was always there. and when we had a problem, we didn't have to wait until she came home from work. because she was home. >> reporter: then her family moves to new hampshire. >> this is the american dream.

low crime rate. then came time for college. pam smart decides to return to florida. and she enrolls at fsu. >> when i went to college, i worked three jobs, 52 hours a week and graduated from college a year early. my aspiration was to be a journalist and to be in the media. i didn't go to college and go out partying. i worked all the time. >> reporter: so you skipped adolescence. >> i kind of skipped relationships. i had no boyfriend in college until i met my husband, and that was it. >> reporter: pamela smart described that love in her first jailhouse interview with my colleague, diane sawyer. >> how did you meet greg smart? >> i met greg when i came home for christmas during a break one year. originally, i wasn't attracted to him. but i then became attracted to him. >> reporter: what about him? >> he was very outgoing and always smiling. he seemed fun to be around.

>> reporter: their relationship heats up lightning greg and pam got married on may 7th, 1989. >> pam smart was decked out like princess diana. >> i was only21 years old when i got married. i was very much in love with my husband. >> reporter: the couple moved back to new hampshire. pamela got a job with the public school system, and she became the media liaison among about a dozen public schools. >> i had a very good job. i made a lot of money for myself. >> reporter: but pamela's happiness is short-lived. >> in her first year of marriage, her husband had come home and talked to her about having an affair. and i think it crushed her deeply. >> i was very much in love with my husband from the time he was my boyfriend through when he was

my husband. and he had an affair. and when that happened, i was devastated. i thought there was something wrong with me. i thought that i wasn't good enough. >> it obviously broke her heart and changed her. changed the marriage. that's the turning point in this story. >> reporter: then, on may 1st, 1990, just a few days shy of their first wedding changes. >> she opens the front door, and in the vestibule is her husband. she starts banging on doors. somebody call 911. hurry, hurry, my husband, my husband. >> i was working as an investigative reporter in new hampshire, and the scanner radio goes off. and we understand a young man has been murdered inside his condominium. >> to get a bullet wound in the back of his head, this looks like a mob hit, an execution. >> i'm still haunted every day by memories of what must have

happened to him inside our house. before he was killed. >> it looks like greg must have walked into the middle of a botched, screwed up burglary. >> we noticed that several things were moved. we found that the upstairs as well had been ransacked. the dressers had been gone through completely. >> however, police find that greg still has his wallet. he still has a gold wedding band on his hand. >> reporter: for the next six weeks, police chase down empty leads, but then a big break. >> suddenly, out of the blue. >> a man walks into the police station with a .38 caliber revolver. >> he says this is my gun. i think it was used in the gregory smart murder case. >> reporter: he tells police that his son's friend, a teenager by the name of ralph welch tells him his gun may have been used to kill greg. >> tests show that that gun is

the weapon that killed greg smart. >> reporter: that very same day, police bring in ralph welch for a videotaped interview. >> okay. it's june 10th, and it's 15:24 hours by my watch. i'm detective barry cherowitz. >> reporter: he tells about a secret conversation he had with the son of the man who turned in the gun. >> he told me the story how it happened. >> he told you the story about how what happened. >> he told me how they did it. >> how they did what? >> killed greg smart. >> reporter: welch says he learned that three high school boys. billy flinn, pete randall and vance went to greg smart's house that night. flinn and randall went inside. lattime and another boy waited in the get away car.

>> they broke into the place. then they set it up to make it look like a burglary. i guess the guy tried to run or something. they grabbed him. they threw his dog in the cellar. they held the guys head and shot him. >> reporter: but what was the alleged motive? >> this is just what they said from pam. >> you're talking about pam, who's pam? >> the guy talk talke talke >> pam smart. >> reporter: they discovered that all three have a connection to pam smart. they attend the school where she's working as a media coordinator. >> i met bill who's kind of making me feel like i'm the greatest thing on the earth. >> reporter: he was charming. >> he was. and i needed a boost. >> reporter: police are led to another student named cecelia pierce. pam's intern at the high school. their interview appears in an interview on "discovery i.d."

she tells police that billy and pam were lovers. >> they were friends. then they were having an affair. >> how did you find out about the affair? >> pam told me that she was in love with >> bill flinn was a juvenile. just 16 years old. >> reporter: were you technically an adult, and he was under age. >> absolutely. >> reporter: that relationship seems predatory. >> it was totally wrong. >> we've had several bombshells in this case, but another one is about to explode. cecelia reveals that she has heard the whole story, conversations between billy flinn and pam, and that she has heard that pam wanted to get rid of greg. >> we're going to conduct an audio surveillance of one pamela smart, using a confidential informant. >> they decide to ask cecelia to

get wired up, wear a taping device under her clothes. >> pretty much, they, they established that, yeah. >> why? >> like, you know, they can't think of any other reason why bill and them would do it. >> yeah, but even if i asked somebody to kill somebody you'd have to be deranged to say okay, i will. >> she doesn't break into tears, she doesn't deny it, that's very telling. >>ly a lawy . >> i had a lawyer, and he says whatever you do, don't talk to her, because she's coming in, and she's going to be wired. >> reporter: and yet she still does. >> he's going to put you on there. and he'll say, did you know? and you're going to say no. >> and even if you're not arrested you're going to have to go, and you're going to have to

send bill. you're going to have to send pete. >> my great, brilliant idea that i had, was that i was going to go in and have these conversations with her to make her feel more comfortable so she could tell me whatever she was going to tell me. all i wanted to know was did this guy really kill my husband. >> ultimately, the wire that cecelia pierce wore became the reason the police were able to go and arrest pamela smart. >> pam, did you have anything to do with your husband's murder? >> reporter: meanwhile, the boys are in police custody, refusing to cooperate. but when prosecutors threaten to try them as adults with possible life sentences, they start talking, and they point the finger directly at pam, telling them she masterminded the entire thing. >> how often did you talk to pam about doing it? >> she would bring it up almost

every day. she started yellin' at me. will, if you're never going to do this, i'm going to go right now. >> they have enough to take it to trial. >> reporter: up next, from grieving wife to convicted mastermind. pam smart is put away, but was justice truly served? stay with us. man, i'm thinking tacos. hey hey! you guys look like foodies. would you like to try our trashy back ribs? oh, that sounds great... everything is locally harvested, farm to dumpster to table. uhhh, what do you... what else do you got? (stammering) w-we have a melon rind stew. comes with a pork and bean reduction. yeah, we're going to just do a lap and we'll come back. okay. well, we'll be here. man! why isn't this working? my mouth is watering. i think that's just your rabies flaring up. with geico, the savings keep on going. just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. we got gristle pot pies! let you sleep, try nyquil severe with vicks vapocool. (acapella) whoa! (avo) and vaporize it. (acapella) ahhhh! (acapella) shhhh! (avo) nyquil severe with vicks vapocool. the vaporizing, nighttime, coughing, aching,

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. >> reporter: in 1991, all eyes were on 23-year-old pamela smart, about to go on trial for being an accomplice to murder, inciting her teenaged lover to

commit murder. >> pamela smart is on trial in what seems like a plot to a very bad movie. >> according to the state, billy flinn committed murder because pam smart put him up to it, luring him with money and sex. but according to the defense, billy flinn committed murder out of a jealous rage. >> reporter: the defense argued that pamela tried to end her relationship with billy, so he took retribution by killing her husband. >> the prosecutors made a plea deal agreement with piece randall and billy flinn, the two who had actually committed the murder. >> reporter: the get away driver also cut a deal. >> by pleading guilty and agreeing to testify, they had a chance at getting out of jail someday, and they took it. >> reporter: at pamela's trial, the three boys take the stand and testify against her. saying that she planned the murder. billy admits to pulling the trigger but says he never would have done it had pamela not told

him to. >> will the defendant please rise? >> reporter: after a two-week trial. >> has the jury reached a verdict? >> reporter: pamela smart was found guilty to being an accomplice. >> i am required and do hereby sentence you to the state prison for women for the remainder of your life without the possibility of parole. >> it was just senseless on the spot, because that's because it was a mandatory sentence. >> tonight, three years later, pamela smart. >> reporter: pamela sat down with diane sawyer for that first interview. >> i didn't really consider billy to be a kid. i guess age wise he was. but i felt that he was more mature. >> reporter: she also got the only interview ever with billy flinn. >> i was still in love with pam. that trial was one of the hard east things i've ever done in my

life ever. >> i guess it's hard for a lot of people to think that you could do something like that for love. >> that was the whole world to me that day. i fell in love with her. she was really all i had, you know. >> reporter: in the years since, pamela appealed her case to no avail. currently, she's housed at the bedford hills correctional facility in new york where she's received two masters degrees, tutors other prisoners and takes part in prison ministry. the boys, billy flinn himself, served long sentences and are now free e. >> even if you believe she's guilty, which i don't, the actual killers who said yes, we murdered him, are walking around and having their lives, and she deserves better. >> reporter: pamela has had to watch as other women who actually fired the bullets that killed their victims walk out of prison after serving less time than she. carolyn warmus, the infamous

fatal attraction murderer who shot her husband nine times now out after serving 27 years. yea. and margaret rudin was out today. pamela's supporters still trying to help her win >> dear governor sanunu. >> it was peppered with testimonials from all kinds of people. >> her time is spent in helping other inmates, ed casikating an inspiring them. >> i was struck by the letters of support. i was struck by how well she's conducted herself in prison. then i got to the memo that she personally wrote. >> although i never wanted nor asked mr. flinn to murder greg. >> she claims she had no involvement with his death.

how do i trust someone who hasn't even come to terms with her own responsibility for the death of her husband? >> the vote was four against giving her any depend of sentence relief and one abstention. >> reporter: mandatory life without parole sentences like pamela's are now being re-examined through second lookebills. >> second look means that a reviewing board will look at offenders that have gotten very long sentences and will determine whether the sentence should be reduced. >> reporter: 21 states and washington, d.c. have introduced second look bills. new hampshire has yet to peick p a second lookebill but pam smart is hopeful they will. >> even though i didn't ask billy flinn to kill my husband nor did i want him to, if i hadn't had the relationship i had with him my husband would

still be alive. so i take responsibility for his death. >> reporter: what does redemption mean to you? >> it means that we don't define people by the very worst thing they've ever done in life. it means people change. people grow, and they evolve over time. >> reporter: we'll be right back. (whistling) introducing new vicks vapopatch easy to wear with soothing vicks vapors for her, for you, for the whole family. new vicks vapopatch.

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to deal with the problem.icians but they wouldn't. so we took it to the voters and forced big tobacco to pay its share of healthcare costs. we fought oil companies for new clean air laws and closed a billion dollar corporate tax loophole to fund public schools. by going directly to the people we got results. that's not something you see a lot of from washington these days. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. let's make change happen.

we should note that next year, pamela smart will file a new petition, asking to get her sentence commuted. that's "nightline." you can always catch our full episodes on hulu. have a great weekend. goodnight, america.

case in point, if you savget xfinity internetple. and mobile together, big savings on your wireless bill. write this down, this is important. amy, this is actually a life saving class. what a nice compliment, thank you! save on fast internet and the best wireless network together. what can i say, i love what i do. that's simple, easy, awesome. get xfinity internet and mobile together and save hundreds on your wireless bill. you'll get unlimited talk and text and no activation or line fees. switch today.