Autograph Letter Signed (“Pam”) to Peter P. Sbrockey, Discussing Her Imprisonment, Efforts to Overturn Her Conviction, and Correspondence with Supporters
[Manchester, NH]: [1991]. A two-page letter from Pamela Smart (b. 1967), the New Hampshire woman convicted in one of the most sensational American murder trials of the late twentieth century. In May 1990, Smart's husband, Gregory Smart, was shot to death in the couple's Derry, New Hampshire, condominium by a teenage accomplice of William Flynn, a 15-year-old student with whom Smart had been having an affair. Prosecutors maintained that Smart had recruited Flynn to murder her husband, and in March 1991 she was convicted of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy, and witness tampering. Sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, Smart became the subject of extraordinary media attention, with her trial among the first criminal proceedings broadcast extensively on television. The case subsequently helped inspire Joyce Maynard's novel To Die For and its 1995 film adaptation directed by Gus van Sant and starring Nicole Kidman.
Writing to a sympathetic correspondent named Peter Sbrockey (who corresponded with an array of serial killers and murderers during the late 1980s/early 1990s), Smart thanks him for his letter and describes receiving thousands of letters from supporters throughout the United States, each of which, she writes, has helped ease her pain. She reports that she is attempting to remain strong by working as a teacher within the prison, instructing fellow inmates in mathematics, science, and spelling. Smart also discusses her continuing legal struggle, expressing hope that the New Hampshire Supreme Court will overturn what she calls her wrongful conviction and that she will find the strength to survive her imprisonment in the meantime. She directs her correspondent to Friends of Pamela Smart, a support organization in Windham, New Hampshire, for newsletters and T-shirts, and discusses prison restrictions on receiving reading material, explaining that newspapers must come directly from vendors with proof of payment. She closes by thanking Peter for his kindness and encouragement, which, she writes, strengthens her determination to continue fighting for freedom.
Two pages, handwritten in blue ink on a sheet of PAME letterhead, accompanied by the original postmarked mailing envelope addressed to Sbrockey in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Folded for mailing, else near fine. Item #15391
Price: $250.00