prison. and try as they could to help stop the next one out there somewhere. i'm natalie morales and this is "dateline." this really was a soap opera. >> unfortunately, it's my life. and it wasn't a soap opera for me. >> it was tv's first blockbuster trial, scandalous and sensational. >> her sexuality. that was the star of the pam smart show. >> this explosion of flashbulbs. >> it's “body heat.” it's “fatal attraction.” >> family smart accused of bewitching a teenage student into murdering her husband. >> did you have sex with him? >> yes. >> i said god forgive me, i

pulled the trigger. >> now, more than three decades later, another look at the frenzy. >> it was just crazy. >> the trial -- >> i made a mistake. >> was killing your husband one of those mistakes? >> no. >> the woman -- >> it's not at all who she is or was. >> and the case some say changed the way americans witnessed jis. >> i don't know if enough will ever be enough for anyone in this case. hello and welcome to "dateline." you've heard about it, pamela smart lived it. the beautiful young widow stepped from her small new england town into america's most gripping trial. the case had it all -- sex, betrayal, and murder. a very real drama that inspired a hollywood hit movie. now you're about to hear the chilling story from the woman at the center of it all. here's "deadly secret."

>> you were the biggest show in town. >> it was. >> maybe in america. >> at the time. >> this story, people couldn't get enough of it. >> nope. when i look back at the footage, i looked like a baby. you know, i look so young. and i look so afraid. and that's exactly how i felt. >> before the menendez brothers, before the bobbits or amy fisher or even o.j., pamela smart was television's first true crime celebrity. >> it's like i'm frozen forever in my worst mistake. and i'm judged forever by my worst mistake. and people think there's nothing else to me. >> the story begins in the old mill town of derry, new hampshire. 22-year-old pamela smart had come home late from work to find her 24-year-old husband, gregg,

sprawled out on the floor of their home. it's six days before your first anniversary. >> uh-huh. >> take us to that night, that -- what happened when you walked in the door? >> i saw gregg on the ground in front of the entrance to the door. i called for him. and he didn't respond. >> did you try to shake him or -- >> no. >> you're just calling his name. >> i called his name. he didn't answer. and i ran -- i just ran that fast. >> you go to the neighbor. and what does the neighbor do, call 911? >> i don't even remember after that. >> derry emergency. >> yes, um an emergency in 4e -- mist -- uh summerhill condominiums. >> what is going on there? >> uh, there is someone passed out. i don't know. a girl is hysterical in here, she just ran over, her husband is passed out in 4e. >> daniel pelletier was the lead detective in the case. >> the first two officers to arrive found mrs. smart outside. she was yelling and screaming that her husband had been hurt.

>> it wasn't until way after his -- the police were there, his parents were there, all of that, his father said, why aren't you helping my son? and the police officer said, because he's dead. >> what's that moment like? >> his father hit the floor, i hit the floor. his mother passed out. it was just -- it was crazy. >> we later determined, through the medical examiner, that it was a gunshot wound. the wound was actually at the top left of his skull, entered in through there. >> when i got to her parents' house, we both sobbed. >> sonia fortin-simon was a friend of gregg and pamela smart's. >> we laid there together in her bed, and i was hugging her because she was in a fetal position crying. she was inconsolable. just trying to figure out who could have done this. >> it was apparent that two people were involved because of the way that things were set up

and the amount of things that were disturbed. the stereo had been removed from the stereo rack, and it was pulled out. there were speakers piled up by the rear door where it looked like they had exited. there was -- jewelry boxes overturned. >> you know, it looked like a burglary gone bad. that's kind of what we were hearing. that's kind of what we were seeing. the police weren't saying anything. >> tami plyler was a reporter for "the new hampshire union leader." >> we had heard at one point that they were looking for someone who mighta traded in some jewelry. we had picked that up on the police scanner. >> but the burglary-gone-bad theory had some problems. >> that didn't really make a lot of sense because the time of day, a nighttime burglary, in a neighborhood like that, there were a lot of residents there. >> it was looking like an execution. maybe there was more to the story. police always look at the spouse. >> uh-huh. >> they just have to talk to them -- >> right. >> did they interview you? >> they did. i spent hours with the police. i spent hours at the police station in the days after that. >> did you feel like you were a suspect? did you feel -- >> not at all. >> -- like they were suspicious of you in any way? >> not at all.

>> gregg smart's short life was over. now, as police tried to find out who killed him, life for his young widow was about to enter a strange new reality. and what happened next would raise questions about justice and fairness that are still being asked today. >> who would want gregg smart dead? a bone-chilling rumor provides a crucial clue. coming up, students with a deadly secret about to be revealed. >> if they hadn't told people, i'm not sure how this would have turned out. >> and one of those students had an intimate connection to pam smart. >> somebody came and told me that he had a crush on me or something. and i thought it was cute, but i wasn't interested. >> you're the grown-up here. >> right. i sure was. >> when "dateline" continues. , "let me talk to my manager." next, carvana's 100% online shopping experience. oh, man. carvana lets people

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a well-liked young man had been gunned down at home in a quiet new england town. bill spencer, who went on to report for nbc affiliate kprc in houston, was just starting out in new hampshire when he picked up the story of who killed gregg smart. >> he has his whole life ahead of him. he's a successful life insurance salesman. he's got a beautiful, young wife. and he has been, for some reason, shot to death at the doorstep of his own home. why?

>> police were asking the same question and trying to learn more about gregg. sonia knew him well. >> gregg was the life of the party. he was always big dimples, smiling. having all the jokes and acted a little crazy. >> police learned that gregg met pamela in new hampshire about four years earlier, when she was home for a holiday break from college. she and gregg got along so well that he moved with her to tallahassee, where pamela was a sophomore in communications at florida state. >> he followed you there? >> yeah. and we used to go a lot to the beach and -- or travel. we went to concerts a lot. i was working as a disk jockey at the time. >> she had been in a couple of my classes. and she was walking and had a bon jovi t-shirt on. >> that's when amy newman bonczek met pamela and gregg. and what did you say to her?

>> and i said, do you like bon jovi? and she's like, i love bon jovi. and she was like, my boyfriend looks like bon jovi. >> gregg wasn't taking classes, but pamela was a serious student. >> i was having some problems in a few classes. and she and she would take me to the library. she'd have index cards. she'd have everything prepared. and she taught me how to study. >> how was pamela around gregg? what -- what did he bring out of her? >> even though he was shy, she was also -- you know, they were just very sweet and kind of cozy. >> by the time graduation rolled around, pamela and gregg were engaged. they went home to new hampshire, got married. gregg cut his hair and got a job with his dad selling insurance. pamela, who dreamed of being a tv reporter, got a media job with a local school district. you kind of had it all together at 20, 21 years old. >> yeah. i was trying. i thought i was doing all right. >> amy imagined a big future for pamela. >> i knew that she was going to do great things. and i told her that the next

time i saw her, i knew she was going to be famous and i would see her on tv. >> and in fact, a few days after the murder, pamela smart was on tv, being interviewed by reporter bill spencer. >> she was wearing a beautiful, vibrant blue dress, hair was all made up, makeup perfect. she looked gorgeous. >> police watched pamela on television with unease. >> we had limited the information that was going to pamela smart, because she had the propensity to talk to the media. she enjoyed talking to the media. >> while reporters worked the story, police continued working the case. and then came a break. it happened at a high school where pamela worked. kids there were spreading a wild story. >> if they hadn't told people, i'm not sure how this would have turned out, because i don't think the police had that much. >> some teenage boys at the school were telling people they

killed gregg smart and used one of their father's guns to do it. a neighborhood kid heard them talking. he repeated the story to the father, who located his gun, and then made a tough decision. >> ended up bringing it to the derry police department, saying, this may have been involved in a murder. turned out it was the gun that -- that killed gregg. >> shortly after that, three local high schoolers were arrested for murder. bill spencer made a beeline for pamela smart's home. >> she looks frantic and incredibly emotional. and i'm like, but this is great news. i mean, they just made arrests. i mean, the case is wrapping up and she's like, no, i can't talk, bill. i'm just too upset. i'm too devastated. >> it was the first time he'd seen her like that. it didn't make sense. but turns out pamela smart knew the kids under arrest.

she had an intimate connection with one of them. his name was billy flynn. >> at first, somebody came and told me that he had -- he was a -- had a crush on me or something. and i thought it was cute, but i wasn't interested. >> you're the grownup here. >> right. i sure was. and i kept -- >> you're working for the school. >> i was not even thinking about him in any romantic way whatsoever. >> they had worked together on a school program called project self-esteem when she was helping students produce this goofy orange juice commercial as part of a competition. there's pamela on the left and that's billy. and then where does it go from there? >> well, i didn't think it was going anywhere because i was not interested and i didn't care. looking back, i guess i was flattered by his attention, because i felt like at that point in my life, kind of low still, after what had happened with gregg. >> she says gregg had had a one-night stand with a woman he met in a bar. pamela says she was feeling

wounded. and billy made her feel better. apparently much better. how did things cross the line? how did it get to that point? >> i knew it was wrong. i felt like i didn't want to be attracted to him. but i still felt like i was. >> she said the affair lasted a few months, but then she told billy it was over after confessing it all to gregg. you were going to try and make it work? >> yes. >> how's billy flynn acting throughout all this? >> he was angry. he was sad. he was crying. he was -- you know, and i felt -- i did feel bad. like, i didn't intend to hurt his feelings. >> not long after that her husband was dead, and the teenage student she'd been sleeping with was under arrest. >> it was a complete shock. and then, when i -- when i first heard it, i thought, oh my god, they found out about the affair. and now, i'm somehow part of

this, one way or another, because i had this relationship with him. >> the kids under arrest may have been young, but they were also tough. they weren't talking. but police were tougher and figured that getting the teens to talk was just a matter of time. coming up -- >> it's "body heat." it's "fatal attraction." it's what pours millions into the theaters every weekend, and it's right here in new hampshire. >> the drama builds as the student who shares pam smart's secret does talk. >> what was his version of events to you? >> pam had said to him that they could never be together unless gregg was killed. >> i didn't realize the scope until the sex part came out. >> when "dateline" continues. ery crush all stars tournament! [ gasps ] sweet! everyone can play and anyone can win. come and get it america. may the best crusher win!

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in the days after the murder, pamela smart spent a lot of time with police talking about her life with gregg and what happened the night he was killed. but she had left out one important detail -- if you're being interviewed for hours, though, one might think it's relevant to say, i was having an affair. that's a possible suspect. >> looking backwards, i should have said that, but i did not think that i knew someone that was capable of murder. it wasn't even in my brain that he had possibly killed my husband.

>> but even after teenager billy flynn and two of his friends were arrested, she still didn't say anything about the affair. >> it was bad enough that my husband was dead. and i was trying to go through all of this, and then i had gregg's parents calling me up, saying, well, how come these people that you know killed my son? >> the teenagers kept silent for months. but then, the prosecution moved to try them as adults and the stakes got higher, according to lead prosecutor paul maggiotto. >> that's when they were facing life without parole. and the idea of cooperating became all the more relevant to them. >> that's when they admitted they killed gregg smart. but there was more to it. billy said pamela was involved. in fact, the teens said she was the mastermind. what was his version of events to you? >> well, basically, that pam had said to him that they could never be together unless gregg was killed.

>> police heard a story of seduction and manipulation, that billy had become spellbound by the sensuous, and more experienced, pamela smart. he would do anything for her, even kill. >> and the original plan was for him to try and find someone to kill gregg smart. and they really couldn't find anybody to kill him, you know. so eventually pam started putting pressure on billy to say, you got to kill gregg smart. and this is how you can do it. >> maggiato says billy tried and failed a few times to kill gregg and then asked his friends for help. >> and for the life of me, i'm not sure why, they agree to help him. and they agree to help him in part because pam says to them, you can have whatever you want out of the apartment. and billy tells them, she'll give you a thousand dollars each, which pam reneges on with billy later and says, i'll give them $500 each.

>> they said pamela told them when gregg would be home. and she made arrangements to be gone. they ransacked the house. billy shot gregg. and they all fled. exactly three months after the killing, police had what they needed. they drove to pamela's workplace. >> she said, hello. and i said, hello. she said, what's up? and i told her, well, we have good news and we have bad news. the good news is we solved the murder of your husband. the bad news is you're under arrest for murder. stand up, turn around, and put your hands behind your back. >> and she's being led by the police into court, and she looks so, to me, powerless. so helpless. vulnerable. >> the news morphed in a nano-second from the story of a tragic widow to the story of a black widow. she was 22 and he was 16. >> up until then, it was a murder case.

it had a lot of interesting parts to it. i didn't realize the scope of this thing until the sex part came out between billy flynn and pamela smart, and all the sexual manipulation. >> people looked back at her early interviews and picked her apart. her looks, her clothes. was she enjoying the attention? >> this is a real, live soap opera. >> nbc news did a story about covering the story with bill spencer's boss. then the news director of wmur. >> it's "body heat." it's "fatal attraction." it's what pours millions into the theater every weekend, and it's right here in new hampshire. >> the tabloids loved it. especially when these pictures surfaced. pamela smart, posing in a bikini. she gave those pictures to young, innocent billy flynn, the story went, supposedly all part

of her seduction. the story moved like wildfire around the country. >> i went in a gas station. i saw ""star" magazine," and there was their wedding picture. and it called her the ice princess, and that she had murdered gregg. i just couldn't believe it and bawled my eyes out. there was no way this was her. >> when the media was talking about pam, i couldn't recognize who they were talking about because it's not the person that i know. >> the families and friends of pamela and gregg smart were about to face a media onslaught. and pamela was about to become part of a new kind of television phenomenon. coming up -- >> she told me she was going to do it like that. >> what did that mean? >> well, like provocative, like a striptease type of thing. >> red-hot testimony. >> we had sex. >> cold-blooded murder. >> i said, god forgive me.

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hello, i'm dara brown. the u.s. economy added 194,000 jobs last month falling well short of predictions even as the unemployment rate fell. meanwhile, investigators say the oil spill wreaking havoc on southern california's coastline could have come from a pipeline months ago. the crack that may have come from an anchor strike has marine growth on it. now back to "dateline."

welcome to "dateline." i'm natalie morales. newlywed and widowed pamela smart received widespread sympathy after her husband was killed. but in a stunning twist, police arrested her for murder. now all eyes were on a new hampshire courtroom where testimony from her three alleged accomplices would reveal a tantalizing story of seduction. one of a different persuasion than you might think. back to "deadly secret." >> it was the first week of march 1991, ten months after gregg smart was killed, and pamela smart was on trial for his murder. reporters from around the world swarmed the courthouse to cover the salacious story -- the woman accused of seducing a teenaged boy and convincing him and his friends to kill her husband. >> all i can remember hearing is this explosion of flashbulbs going off, like, as she's being

led into the courtroom. >> what kind of impact did it have on the trial? all that attention. >> i mean, certainly i think the court had to take certain precautions to make sure things didn't get out of hand. >> pamela's defense attorney, mark sisti, says things had already gotten out of hand. >> i felt as though the jury was in shark-infested waters. they hadn't been sequestered. camera crews at that point were running wild. we had our own client chased into the woman's lavatory. >> that was the backdrop as the state of new hampshire laid out its case. >> -- and fired one fatal shot into the head of greggory smart. >> prosecutors contended in their opening arguments that pamela smart was a calculating temptress. a woman who lured young billy flynn with promises of sex and money. >> yeah, that's the gun i got out of the drawer. >> one by one the teens, who had already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, took the stand.

in homes, bars, diners and barbershops, the people watched as the they described an awful crime. one admitted driving the others to murder gregg smart. as he told it, the motive was money for him and for pamela. he said pam told them there would be a big life insurance payout after gregg was killed and they would get some of the money. >> what did you expect to receive? >> $500 in cash. >> from who? >> pam smart. >> the driver told the jury how pamela smart issued detailed instructions, including no stabbing. >> pam had said that she did not want to use -- that she didn't want the knife used because of the mess the blood would make, and how she had new furniture -- she had white leather furniture and stuff. >> but one of the teens found a butcher knife in pamela's kitchen and held it to gregg's throat as he attempted to rob him. >> he was telling us not to hurt him.

please don't hurt him, begging for his life. i asked him for the ring on his finger. >> what kind of ring was it? >> at first, i thought it just was a normal gold ring, but it turned out to be a wedding band. >> and what happened at that time? >> he told me he couldn't give it to me. >> why? >> said his wife would kill him. >> at the center of this r-rated courtroom drama was the lovestruck teenage killer, billy flynn. he took the stand on his 17th birthday and testified about how he and pamela smart became intimate. flynn testified that while pamela's husband was away on a ski trip, she invited him into her bedroom. and then -- >> she told me she was going to dance for me like that. >> what did like that mean? >> like provocative. like a striptease type thing. >> what happened after that? >> we had sex. >> by that you mean intercourse? >> yeah. we made love. >> on the stand, billy went on

to say that the next morning, pamela smart began a different kind of seduction. >> she started crying and that got me upset. she was saying that the only way we're going to be able to be together is if we kill gregg. if you love me, you'd do this because you'd want to be with me. >> what did you say to her when she was saying this to you? >> i told her that i did love her, i loved her very much. >> billy testified that the murder plot was planned over the course of at least two months. you could hear a pin drop in court when the tearful, doe-eyed high school student described the killing. >> i cocked the hammer back and i pointed the gun at his head. >> after you pointed the gun at his head, what did you do? >> i just stood there. >> how long was it?

>> a hundred years it seemed like. i said, god forgive me. >> after you said, god forgive me, what happened? >> i pulled the trigger. >> viewers were like jurors rendering a verdict in real time. >> i feel sorry for the kids. they're so young and everything and they ruined their lives. >> the story of the wedding ring was devastating. don't take that wedding ring, my wife will kill me. oh, my lord. >> there's no soap opera to this. it's real stuff. real stuff. >> if the testimony from the young conspirators wasn't enough, prosecutors had pamela in her own words, courtesy of another student, pamela's intern, cecelia pierce. prosecutors believed cecelia

knew about the murder plot but they didn't have enough evidence to charge her with conspiracy. but police did convince her to cooperate. >> when cecelia pierce came onboard and she decided to start cooperating with us, she wore a body wire and talked to pamela smart. >> investigators hoped pamela smart would implicate herself in gregg's murder. on the tapes she didn't come right out and say, i did it, but she did sound like someone worried about being arrested. >> i'm afraid you're going to come in here and one day you're going to be wired by the police and i'm going to be busted. >> on one recording pamela implies she knows plenty about the murder plot. >> if you tell the truth you are probably going to be arrested, and you're going to have to send me to the slammer for the rest of our entire life. >> she also worries about what would happen if one of the teens involved in the plot started talking to police. >> because he's going to turn against them. and he is going to blame me. >> right. >> i know he is. and that's when i'm going to be in trouble. >> how critical are those tapes?

>> i would tell you they're the nail in the coffin, if you really want the truth. i mean, they're the nail in the coffin. >> as he wrapped up the state's case, prosecutor maggiotto warned the jury not to be fooled by pamela smart the way billy flynn and his accomplices had been. >> this woman was counting on from day one that if this case ever came to court, she could put herself on the stand with her background and her intelligence and her ability to answer questions and pull one over on you, ladies and gentlemen. >> the prosecutors had little doubt that the always poised pamela smart was capable of doing just that. >> the state's case was strong, but pamela was up next. and she was about to share a very different version of events. coming up -- >> did you expect that when he was over, you would have sex with him? >> yes. >> did you have sex with him when he came over? >> yes. >> pamela smart takes the stand. >> i made a mistake.

>> you made a lot of mistakes so far in this case? >> i sure have. yes, i have. >> was killing your husband one of those mistakes? >> no, it wasn't. >> when "dateline" continues. we do it every night. like clockwork. do it! run your dishwasher with cascade platinum. and save water. did you know certified dishwashers... ...use less than four gallons per cycle, while a running sink uses that, every two minutes. so, do it with cascade. the surprising way to save water. (brad) apartments-dot-com has the most pet-friendly listings for pet loving renters. so you might say that we've brought more joy to more sweet, innocent and adorable little creatures than any other site. (employee) ow, stop it. (brad) apartments-dot-com. the most popular place to find a place.

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if somebody condition remember pamela smart, you say the movie "to die for" with nicole kidman. of course i know that case. >> if you watch "to die for," people take that and they say, okay, this whole movie is true, and this person, pamela smart, is a horrible individual. >> it's a very iconic movie. >> yes. and it helped to freeze me in the image of my worst mistake. >> that mistake? pamela says it was sleeping with billy flynn, not asking him to kill her husband. she denies that. pamela says the jury was infected by a press that caricatured her as an evil seductress. she says the tabloids were full of lies like those bikini photos. that they weren't shot to tempt billy flynn. they were taken for fun with a friend for a modeling contest. >> somehow the narrative escaped or got created that i took these pictures for bill flynn and gave them to him to seduce him.

and that's totally a false story. >> by the time pamela took the stand, there was a lot to dig out of. she had to testify in court that, yes, she'd been a school district employee who'd slept with a student. >> did you expect that when he was over, you would have sex with him? >> yes. >> did you have sex with him when he came over? >> yes. >> did you make love to him? >> yes. and then when i did, i told him that i didn't think it was right and that it was wrong and that i wanted to be with gregg. and he kept saying, why didn't i just get a divorce? and i said, because i love gregg. >> she said billy didn't want the relationship to end. >> he started crying and said that he couldn't live without me. >> how did that make you feel? >> i felt bad. i didn't want to hurt his feelings. i mean i still wanted to be friends with him. he was still a nice person. >> and then the prosecutor pressed her about why she didn't admit the affair from the

beginning. >> i did not want the whole united states of america to know that i had had an affair. i made a mistake. >> you made a lot of mistakes so far in this case? >> i sure have. yes, i have. >> was killing your husband one of those mistakes? >> no, it wasn't. >> was not getting a divorce maybe that was one of the mistakes? you should have gotten divorced, but you didn't? >> no. i didn't want to get divorced. >> you were so composed. someone in the media even likened you to an ice princess. >> mm-hmm. i think i was in shock completely by -- i was overwhelmed by the media attention. i was raised my whole life not to be a crybaby. not to be, you know, overly dramatic or anything like that. and of course, when i was by myself later on in the night, i would be crying when i was rewatching the coverage or whatever. you know, it was upsetting. >> from defense attorney mark sisti's point of view, pamela was more arrested development than ice queen. >> she seemed more like a

14- 15-year-old playing the part of an adult. >> he says another false image that persisted was billy flynn and his friends as innocent young boys easily manipulated. the attorney says, in reality they were tough teens who killed gregg on their own. and then concocted a story about pamela's involvement to shorten their sentences. >> the “boys were boys” is a myth. the so-called boys were certified by the attorney general's office as adults with the sophistication of adults that would face trial in adult courtrooms and be punished with adult punishments. >> he says it's outrageous they were housed in the same jail for months before trial. billy and the teen who held the knife were even in the same cell. they had a long time to get their stories straight, if necessary.

>> from the day that gregg was slaughtered in his own living room, to the day they stepped into the courtroom, they could prepare for trial, together. >> what do you say about the motive the prosecution gives about you wanting your husband dead? life insurance? >> well, no, right. no one has ever -- >> infidelity. >> -- explained any kind of sufficient motive for why i would want to murder my husband when i could have just gotten divorced. my parents lived in a beautiful house right up the street. we had no children and no property or an -- there was nothing to lose. >> why would billy flynn kill gregg, kill your husband, with the help of these other teenagers? >> i think he felt like that was the only way he could be with me. it was very clear that, as long as i was married, i was never going to be with him. >> looking back, do you think there was anything you might have inadvertently said to billy flynn or done that could have provoked him into doing this? >> the only thing i ever said was that, i'm not going to be with you because i'm going to be with gregg. >> still, it's hard to explain those tapes.

>> i'm afraid you're going to come in here and one day you're going to be wired by the police and i'm going to be busted. >> pamela told us there's a story behind those tapes. her attorney says he warned her that cecelia might be wired. but pamela talked to her anyway. >> the police weren't giving me any information. i was completely cut off. >> she says on those tapes she's acting, pretending to know more than she did in order to pump cecelia for information. >> all i wanted to know was did this guy kill my husband. it's like i couldn't even sleep. i had to know did he really do this? because i knew that if he killed my husband, i felt it was all my fall. whether i asked him to kill him or not, it was still my fault. because if i would have never have had this relationship, my husband would still be alive. >> pamela points out that a lot of what's on the tapes is hard to hear. she also argues that the tapes may have been edited and

the transcripts given to the jury for deliberations were unreliable. >> last year, all these years later, we found out a secretary in the attorney general's office made the transcription. that would be like having my mother make the transcripts. >> do you understand why people hear those tapes and believe that you're guilty? >> i do. right, i do. i do. coming up, the verdict. >> do you think it was fair? >> and more than 30 years later, some are asking that same question. >> a lot of forward progressive thinking go ofs are saying the sentence is archaic. enough is enough. >> when "dateline" continues.

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the jury in the pamela smart case deliberated for 13 hours before rendering its verdict. >> how say you, is the defendant guilty or not guilty of these charges? >> guilty. >> so say you all? >> yes. >> guilty. and gregg's parents agreed. >> by god she did do it. >> she got what she deserved. >> but pamela's family was heartbroken. >> get out of the way. >> do you think it was fair, the trial? >> i want my son. get out of here. i want my son. >> not at all. do you? do you think it was fair? of course not, from the beginning it wasn't fair. >> the sentence was mandatory. >> i am required and do hereby sentence you to the new

hampshire state prison for women for the remainder of your life without the possibility of parole. >> life in prison. >> with no chance of parole. >> no chance for parole. >> today this is home for pamela smart, bedford hills correctional facility for women, about an hour north of new york city. she filed appeals on the grounds of excessive pretrial publicity, change of venue, and jury misconduct. the courts found no merit in those appeals and they were denied. while one by one, the teens, now middle-aged men, have been paroled. billy flynn who pulled the trigger was released in 2015. he addressed the court then. once again, in tears. >> i felt a tremendous amount of shame. >> do you think about billy flynn, what he's doing, all the

other -- >> i do sometimes. >> -- guys? >> you know, and it makes me angry. but i'm a person that doesn't want to live in bitterness and anger. >> what pamela smart does want to talk about almost three decades later is her sentence, life without parole. >> i'm not even arguing of trying my case again. what happened happened at trial. and i was found guilty, and i was sentenced, and i'm in prison. and i've spent nearly 29 years here now. so at this point, all i'm saying is, is the sentence fair? >> that's the kind of question many criminal justice reform advocates are asking. more and more states are rethinking mandatory sentencing and the value of life without parole. >> a lot of forward progressive thinking governors are saying that this sentence is archaic. it leaves no room for any real change and rehabilitation or redemption or mercy. >> and if rehabilitation is the goal, pamela smart would say she is the poster child. >> i have one master's in law and one in english literature.

and i'm working on a doctorate in biblical studies right now. >> she's an inmate advocate, studies music, and she does this -- praise dancing. >> praise dancing, which i do often in church, it makes me feel free. it's one of the times here that i do feel free. >> friends who have stood by her have waged a social media campaign to get pamela smart out of prison, #freepamsmart. they say it's unfair that the person who pulled the trigger and killed gregg smart is free, while pamela is not. >> so legally, what's left? >> what's left is i'm -- have a petition in front of the new hampshire governor, asking that my sentence be reduced to anything but life with no parole. >> why do you believe that you should be allowed to walk free?

>> i know if i get out of prison tomorrow, i'm going to get a job and i'm going to be a productive citizen, and i just feel like enough is enough. >> in the past, members of gregg's family have said they oppose her release, and as the convicted mastermind, she should serve more time than the others. bill spencer looks back on all the years of news coverage and sees a gaping hole. >> don't forget about gregg smart. he's been overshadowed for so many years. this was a young, from everybody i talked to, beautiful young guy with his whole life ahead of him, and so much promise. he should be here now. >> pamela smart filed yet another petition with the state of new hampshire in 2018. she asked that her sentenced be changed so she is allowed to have a parole hearing. andru volinsky is a member of the state's executive council that considered her request. >> there were letters from inmates. there were letters from family members. i learned that she accomplished a great deal while in prison.

>> more than 500 pages about what a good person pamela smart is. and then -- >> i never wanted nor asked mr. flynn to murder gregg. >> ten little words blew her chance at a hearing to smithereens. she again denied responsibility for gregg smart's murder. so the council voted against her request for a change of sentence. >> if ms. smart's petition had omitted any reference to whether she was guilty or not guilty and had simply focused on her good efforts while in prison, i would have voted for a hearing. >> i think it's -- the problem is it's sort of unpopular for a governor to say, "okay, i'll let her go," when she's not taking responsibility -- >> well, actually -- >> -- for what happened. >> -- i am taking responsibility for what happened.

but you know what i mean. >> more direct responsibility. >> right. >> that you ordered this murder. >> right. >> that you ordered this murder. >> but -- so i'm supposed to admit to something that i didn't do just to get out of prison? i -- i don't get it. >> paul maggiato has strong words for pamela smart. more than once he has called her a sociopath. >> is this a personal opinion? >> it's a personal opinion. i mean, i -- i don't have the ability to bring a psycho -- a psychoanalyst to her and to interview her with questions, but look at her behavior. okay, maybe she's not a sociopath. whatever she is, she's a sick woman. >> pamela smart wrote you a note not too long ago. >> she did. >> she wrote me a note basically saying, "i've heard you say on the media that i have no remorse, and i do have remorse for what happened with the boys and i do have remorse for my husband's death." and i wrote her back and basically said, "i get you have that remorse, but you've never expressed remorse for planning the murder or for taking responsibility for the murder. >> will you ever say, "i did this," or -- >> no. >> -- i told them to do this? >> no, because i did not tell

them to do this. i didn't ask them to do that. and, no, i will not. >> pamela smart is planning to file another petition for a parole hearing sometime this year. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. first up on msnbc, we're on top of breaking news in texas where late last night a federal court temporarily reinstated a been on most abortions. as the legal battle takes another turn, we're digging into what comes next as democrats sound the alarm. >> they're playing with our lives. they're playing with our bodies. and i'm telling you, people are going to die. the biden white house in a new showdown with former president donald trump over documents about january 6th