Youth Sentenced in Murder of Teacher’s Spouse

The teen-ager who fell in love with high school teacher Pamela Smart and murdered her husband was sentenced Wednesday to 28 years to life in prison for his role in the killing.

William Flynn, 18, became the second of four teen-agers to be sentenced for their roles in the May, 1990, death of 24-year-old Gregory Smart. The other two are to be sentenced this week.

Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Kenneth McHugh imposed a sentence that had been recommended by prosecutors, who negotiated with Flynn in exchange for testimony that helped convict Smart last year.

Smart, a former high school media specialist who also helped run a group counseling program at the school, is serving life behind bars. Prosecutors said she seduced Flynn, one of the pupils in the program, and then coerced him into committing the murder. Her lawyers argued that the boys killed her husband and framed her.

At the hearing Wednesday, McHugh turned aside a plea for mercy from Flynn’s mother and a plea from Gregory Smart’s mother to sentence the teen-ager to life.

McHugh sentenced Flynn to a term of 40 years to life, but with 12 years deferred. Under New Hampshire law, he must serve at least the minimum of 28 years.