SerpApi.Org
Francis Smith, who was convicted for a 1949 Greenwich murder and was the longest-serving prisoner in the state, has died at the age of 101.
Smith died June 25, on “supervised parole” at the 60 West nursing home in Rocky Hill, which is operated by the state. The public information officer for the state Department of Correction, Andrius Banevicius, confirmed his death.
Smith's incarceration, and the aging prison population across the nation, have raised ethical questions about inmates who have been in jail for decades among penal experts, activists and legal scholars. It also stands out as a unique story in its own right: living in the harsh prison conditions, consuming meals that cost taxpayers about $3 a day, is not a recipe for a long life.
"It's quite remarkable to make it to 101, for anyone," Banevicius said, "Prison life is not great for longevity. It's quite unusual."
The particulars of Smith's case have drawn scrutiny and fascination for decades, and some observers believe he was innocent of the crime for which he was convicted.
On a warm summer night at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, a night watchman named Grover Hart was shot and killed while making his rounds. Hit by bullets from two different guns, he died nearly two days later, after giving Greenwich police a physical description of one of the shooters.
Two petty criminals were eventually captured by police, and investigators linked them to the yacht club killing through ballistic evidence and items taken during the robbery, such as six neckties bearing the insignia of the club. One of the shooters, George Lowden, of Stamford, quickly took a plea offered by the State’s Attorney, sparing him the electric chair. He gave evidence on the other suspect held in the crime, Francis (Frank) Smith.
Smith had a lengthy rap sheet long before the Indian Harbor robbery. Born in Noroton, he lived in Stamford as a young man, beginning his criminal record at the age of 13. Stealing cars and property, he was sent to the state juvenile detention facility, Cheshire Reformatory, where he assaulted an officer and escaped for a time, landing him behind bars in a maximum-security prison. The yacht club robbery certainly fit Smith's criminal profile -- police said he and a crew of petty lawbreakers pulled burglaries and robberies all over southern Connecticut, often at country clubs, before the shooting at the Greenwich yacht club on Steamboat Road.
Smith’s conviction for that crime was based almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. Insisting on his innocence, he held out for a jury trial, and lost. Following a 1950 trial in Bridgeport, at the age of 26, he was convicted of first-degree murder, an offense that then carried the death sentence. Smith came within two hours of being electrocuted -- his head was partially shaved in preparation for his execution in the death house at Wethersfield -- before a call from the Board of Pardons in 1954 commuted the death sentence to 25 years to life in prison.
While there are no official databases that track such records, a number of observers and prison experts contended Smith was the longest-serving inmate in the United States, and the oldest among all long-servers. Wikipedia lists him as the longest serving prisoner in the U.S., at 70 years and 31 days. Smith did experienced freedom for short periods of time. He escaped from a prison farm in Enfield in 1967 and was later captured in Massachusetts 12 days later. He was released on parole for 10 months before committing a violation that put him back behind bars in 1975.
He was released from state custody in 2022. With nowhere else to go, he accepted a placement at the 60 West facility, a privately-run operation in Rocky Hill that contracts with the state for housing elderly parolees. He was in supervised parole for six years on top of the 70 years he spent in prison.
Smith was cited by some experts and advocates, questioning how justice is served when inmates become debilitated old men, long after the crimes they committed. The debate is ongoing, as it is estimated that by 2030, one-third of all prisoners in the U.S. will be older adults.
Tina Maschi, a professor in the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service, has written on the subject of aging prisoners. Maschi questioned whether imprisoning old men for crimes carried out decades in the past was the only option. "An already overcrowded and under served prison system is straining to manage the needs of incarcerated older adults with growing frailty and health concerns," she said. "The American system overemphasizes relentless retribution and cruel punishment."
Banevicius, the spokesman for the state Department of Corrections, said, "I try and come down on the side of victim. There's no easy answer. 76 years is a long time."
Serious questions about Smith's guilt have also persisted through the years. Zachary Frey, a financial analyst from Greenwich who developed a keen interest in the case and researched it extensively, called it a "an egregious case of wrongful imprisonment. "
"The case against Smith collapsed shortly after his conviction. The key witnesses admitted they lied, the lead investigator said he was wrong and another man credibly confessed to being the second shooter," Frey said. "For all intents and purposed, Smith was imprisoned without evidence for 70 years."
Frey is not alone.
A former major in the Connecticut State Police, Leo Caroll, the lead investigator in the prosecution against Smith, said at one of the hearings on his case, “I’m positive (Smith) didn’t kill Grover Hart. I’m not even sure he was at the murder,” Caroll said.
Smith, who measured 5-foot, 7-inches tall, had sandy red hair in his younger days and a scar on his face. In prison, he let his hair grown long and kept to himself. According to people who knew him in prison, posted on social media and verified by the corrections department spokesman, his most notable activity for the decades he served in prison was feeding birds in his cell.
Smith leaves behind no known relatives.
