Francis Clifford Smith, a Connecticut man believed to be the longest-serving inmate in U.S. historical past, has died on the age of 101. Smith’s life was marked by an almost 70-year jail sentence, throughout which he confronted execution a number of occasions earlier than his sentence was commuted. He died on June 25, whereas on supervised parole at a nursing house.
A Tumultuous Sentence and Repeated Stays of Execution
Sentenced to dying in 1950 for the homicide of an evening watchman, Grover S. Hart, on the Indian Harbor Yacht Membership in Greenwich, Smith was 25 years outdated on the time of his conviction. The crime occurred in July 1949, when Hart was shot and died two days later from his accidents. Ballistic proof finally linked Smith and one other particular person, George Lowden, to the homicide.
Lowden, who confessed to firing one shot, implicated Smith because the shooter of the opposite bullets. Nonetheless, Smith constantly maintained his innocence all through his incarceration. Regardless of the conviction, persistent doubts about his direct involvement within the homicide led to quite a few interventions that prevented his execution.
In accordance with reviews, Smith was scheduled for electrocution eight occasions. His life was repeatedly spared resulting from numerous elements, together with the recantation of witness statements and a later confession from one other inmate. A pivotal second got here simply two hours earlier than a scheduled execution on June 7, 1954. An investigator concerned within the case testified that he was unsure of Smith’s presence on the crime scene, main the Connecticut Board of Pardons to commute his dying sentence to 25 years to life in jail.
Many years in Jail and a Infamous Nickname
Smith finally served roughly 70 years in correctional amenities, a period believed to be the longest in American historical past. Whereas incarcerated on the Osborn Correctional Institute in Somers, he earned the nickname “Birdman of Osborn.” This moniker stemmed from his behavior of gathering bread and stuffing it into his garments to feed birds, an exercise that jail officers largely ignored.
His time in jail was not totally uninterrupted. In 1967, Smith escaped and remained at giant for 12 days earlier than being apprehended. He additionally briefly returned to jail after a Christmas Eve go to house within the late Seventies. In 1975, Smith was granted parole however was arrested about ten months in a while expenses of larceny and possession of harmful weapons. Though not convicted of those expenses, he was returned to jail for violating his parole phrases.
Last Years and Legacy
After a long time of incarceration, Smith was finally granted parole in 2020 on the age of 95. He had reportedly refused parole for a few years, stating he had “been sitting right here for a very long time.” His parole led him to the 60 West nursing house in Rocky Hill, the place he spent the final six years of his life underneath supervised parole. Officers famous that his longevity, particularly throughout the confines of jail life, was extremely uncommon.
A spokesman for the nursing house indicated that Smith died of outdated age and that his passing was dignified and met his needs, regardless of restricted household involvement. The Connecticut Division of Correction listed his standing as “sentenced” even whereas he resided within the nursing house. Smith didn’t have a funeral; his physique was cremated.
Smith’s case highlights a fancy authorized historical past, marked by a extreme sentence, repeated near-executions, and an exceptionally lengthy interval of incarceration. His dying at 101 closes a chapter on probably the most extraordinary and prolonged jail sentences ever served in the US.
