Francis Clifford Smith was scheduled for execution eight times, and eight times he received his last meal. But each time the execution was postponed.
Now, the oldest inmate in the USA has died — of natural causes, Bild reports.
Smith spent over 75 years in prison in Connecticut. Until the very end, he maintained that he did not commit the murder for which he was sentenced to death by the court in 1950. Doubts remained in his case for decades.
Smith (then 25 years old) was convicted of the murder of night watchman Grover Hart. Hart was shot dead on the morning of July 23, 1949, during a robbery of a yacht club. The fatal wound was caused by a bullet from a .22 caliber revolver. However, another bullet and four shell casings at the crime scene were from a different weapon. Therefore, the court assumed there were two perpetrators.
One suspect, a man named George Lowden, pleaded guilty.
Against Smith, according to the court's decision, the main evidence was circumstantial.
In a grey Cadillac near a cafe in New York State, police discovered one of the weapons used in the crime, as well as jewelry and other items from the yacht club — and Smith had been seen at that establishment shortly before. In addition, a shirt was found in the car, which, in all likelihood, belonged to him. This evidence was enough to convict him.
The execution date was set eight times, and eight times Smith was pardoned. In 1954, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1967, he managed to escape for twelve days. In 1975, Smith was released on parole, but about ten months later he was arrested again for theft and possession of weapons, and he had to return to prison.
The inmate turned 101 years old.
At Osborn Prison, Smith earned the nickname "Birdman of Osborn": he hid bread in his clothes to feed the birds.
Guards turned a blind eye to this, knowing why he was collecting the bread.
Only in 2020 was Smith released from prison, but he remained under supervision at an elderly care facility. There he died in his sleep at the age of 101 at the end of June 2026.
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