U.S. Prisoner Who Escaped Execution Eight Times Dies at 101 After 70 Years Behind Bars
A 70-year chapter in the United States prison system has come to an end with the death of Francis Clifford Smith, who spent most of his life behind bars and was spared execution eight times.
Smith died in June at a care facility in Connecticut at the age of 101, after spending more than seven decades in custody. He was only 25 when he was convicted in 1950 of murdering Grover Hart, a night watchman at a Connecticut yacht club.
Smith consistently maintained his innocence, while serious questions were later raised about the evidence used against him. Some witnesses reportedly recanted their statements, while another inmate later confessed to the killing and claimed responsibility.
A police officer involved in Smith’s interrogation also told the Connecticut Board of Pardons that he believed Smith was innocent. Smith was sentenced to death in 1950, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1954. He was subsequently spared execution eight times.
During his long incarceration at Osborn Correctional Institution, Smith became known as “The Birdman of Osborn” because of his habit of feeding birds around the prison. Although he spent more than 70 years in custody, Smith had brief periods outside prison, including a parole period in the 1970s.
He was eventually granted supervised parole in 2020 and transferred to a care facility for elderly people within the justice system. Smith’s case also drew attention to the growing number of elderly inmates in the United States and calls for compassionate release and medical or elderly parole.
He died peacefully in his sleep in June and was later cremated.
