Billy Flynn is out of jail.

Nope.  Not that one.  This one:

Or… as he looks today….

Billy Flynn is the convicted shooter in the Pamela Smart (pronounced “Smaht”) case. As a teenager, Billy shot and killed Gregg Smart in 1990. Gregg was the husband of Pamela Smart, with whom Billy was having an affair. Pamela was an audio-visual school instructor/aide at Billy’s high school at the time. Flynn pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Gregg Smart, and his testimony was key in convicting Pamela for orchestrating the crime. Also released today was Patrick Randall, who held Smart down while Flynn shot him in the head.

The murder was made into a TV movie with Helen Hunt, and the feature film “To Die For”, starring Nicole Kidman, was loosely based on those events.

Pam Smart maintains her innocence to this day.  As late as 2014, in the HBO documentary Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart, she blamed the media coverage for her conviction (I’ve seen the documentary — Smart’s argument is entirely unconvincing and full of holes).

Dr. Eleanor Pam, spokeswoman for Pamela Smart, has issued a statement about the releases:

“Bill Flynn and Patrick Randall are leaving prison today, years in advance of their scheduled release date. Over and over they have been rewarded for their expressions of contrition for killing Gregory Smart. But it is one thing to say you are remorseful and another to be remorseful.

Pamela Smart, on the other hand, has been condemned and punished for her failure to admit any role in the murder of her husband. This is widely interpreted as a failure to take responsibility for her actions. And so she is dismissed and reviled, deemed ineligible for forgiveness or mercy. But how can anyone take responsibility for an crime they did not commit? This is the cruel dilemma of all innocent people.

Does anyone believe that Pamela Smart would rather spend the rest of her life in prison simply because she is prideful and stubborn? Nonsense! The truth matters even more than does her freedom as she has demonstrated for 25 years. Pamela Smart will continue to assert her innocence until she is finally heard and believed.”

Pam Smart’s press statement shows the duplicity of Pam Smart.  It suggests that she, too, could be out on the streets, if only she had shown remorse.  But no, she argues, she is interested in the truth.  Except for one thing…. Pam was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  So her only way out isn’t by remorse, but by a finding of innocence.

Which isn’t going to happen.

Anyway, I like this story.  Always have.