Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
The film opens to the actual murder. Three teenage boys are holding a knife to the throat of a man. They are demanding his wedding ring, and he is begging for his life. The boy holding the knife says "he can't do it." Another boy draws a pistol, says "God Forgive me", and shoots him to death. The three boys run out of the house to a getaway car. The scene then cuts to a courtroom. The prosecuting attorney explains to the court that Ms. Smart coerced the boys into the murder of her husband. The scene then cuts to a flashback, where Gregg Smart calls the home of his then-fiancee Pam. He tells her that he got a job at a New Hampshire insurance company, and that she should pack her bags. When he arrives, she notices that he has had his hair cut, and expresses her disapproval. The next scene shows their wedding. As they are about to drive off, she tells her new parents-in-law that she is thankful that they have been so good to her. Pamela soon applies for a job at a news station, but is turned down. She then gets a job as a media director at a high school, where she begins an Anti-Drug campaign. For the drug campaign, she meets several students, including Billy Flynn and Cecelia Pierce. After the meeting, she drives Cecelia and Billy home, dropping off Cecelia first. When Billy and Pam are alone in the car, they learn of their shared fandom of Van Halen, and Pam says she used to work on a radio station, & met the band then. Later on, Billy, Pam, and Cecelia learn of a contest to make an advertisement for orange juice, which has a cash prize and a trip to Florida. They decide to make a music video for it, Billy being the cameraman. Soon after, Cecelia expresses her interest of going into a similar field to Pam, who offers to let her be her intern. Cecelia accepts, and tells Pam that Billy has a "major crush" on her. On one occasion, Pam and Billy go to a nightclub together, despite Billy's mother's disapproval. One day of filming the music video, Pam asks Billy if she could shower at his house, he says that was okay. Afterward, Billy and Pam talk in his bedroom, & they soon begin to kiss each other passionately. Pam soon pulls away and tells Billy that she's married. However, soon Billy is at his friend's house. He tells his friend that his mom believes he is sleeping over there, so if she calls he should pretend he can't come to the phone, but in reality he is going to Pam's and that her husband is out of town. When asked if they plan to have sex, Billy says "I hope so." At Pam's, they do end up going upstairs and having sex for the first time. When Pam is driving Billy home one day, she tells him they have to break up. Billy asks her why, and she says that Gregg rarely goes out of town like that, and that she wants to be with Billy always. She tells him that the only way they could be together is if he murders her husband. Billy suggests that she divorce Gregg, but she says that all they own is made out to him, and he would get all of it. He also has had a history of beating her, and is afraid for her safety if she leaves him. She tells him that he will also pay his friends $1,000 to kill her husband. On two separate occasions, Billy says he and his friends will kill Gregg, but both times he doesn't, and Pam reacts with anger, and threatens to tell Gregg of the whole situation. Billy tells his friends that he would commit suicide if he lost Pam. On the third occasion, they succeed in killing him. When questioned by the police and media, Pam adamantly claims that her husband was not a violent person, nor was he involved with illegal drugs. Meanwhile, an anonymous caller tells the Police that Cecelia knew about the plot. The police immediately question Cecelia, who eventually admits to the story being true. Billy & his friends are arrested, as is Pam. Billy is offered a reduced sentence if he testifies against Pam, and his friends talk him into it. The movie ends in the courtroom again. The jury finds Pamela to be guilty, and she is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and Billy is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 28 years.

Review: She's A Bad Mama Jama.
98 I was a freshman in college when the Pamela Smart trial was all the rage on television, radio, newspapers, etc.
I followed the proceedings with great interest, and when the TV film "Murder In New Hampshire" premiered on CBS, I watched with anticipation.
I wanted to know what drove this young woman to be so treacherous.
For those of you not familiar with this true story, 23 year-old Pamela (Wojas) Smart married her college sweetheart, Greg Smart.
They resided in Derry, New Hampshire.
Pam's and Greg's parents lived nearby.
Exactly one year after Pam and Greg were married, Greg was found dead in the couple's home.
He was sprawled out on the carpet, having been brutally shot to death.
Pam gets her just desserts as this bizarre (but true)story ends.What followed was a sad saga.
Pamela Smart, who came from a wealthy family and was always popular, arranged the murder of her husband Greg by hiring four teenage boys to proceed with the murder plot.
Billy Flynn was 15 years old and was a student at Winnacunnet High School, where Pam was employed as "media director."  Pam encouraged Billy, along with teens Raymond Fowler, JR Lattime, and Patrick "Pete" Randall, to murder Greg.
Another student, Cecelia Pierce, 15, worked at Pam's office for school credit and knew all about the murder plot but was skeptical  because Pam would just matter-of-factly fill her in on the details as if it was one big joke..
What was her reason???.
I enjoyed this movie and even bought it for my collection.
Remember Billy was only fifteen years old and was experiencing his first sexual encounter.
He was, understandably, easily manipulated by an "older" woman.While I liked Helen Hunt's portrayal of Pam Smart, I still do not understand what was her reason for getting rid of her husband.
According to the movie, Greg wasn't cruel or abusive to her, he seemed to love her very much, they lived in a lovely condo, and was supportive of her career decisions.
His parents also seemed to love Pam like a daughter.
Pam was crazy about Greg when he was a Van Halen look-alike but when he cut his hair and started to dress corporate (to work for an insurance company)did her feelings for him start to change then?
She was very into heavy-metal but was she afraid that her "rocker" husband was transforming into Mr. Yuppie America?
I went ahead and bought a paperback about this case and hope to find out what has driven Pam to this extreme..
Movie was excellent 2 thumbs up!!!.
This was an excellent re-enactment of the Pamela Smart story.
I have been wanting to see it again for years and up until a few minutes ago I was unaware that it could be purchased.
I can't wait to add it to my video library.
I think everyone in the movie did an excellent job.
I think that a lot of people misunderstood the movie.
If u followed the story at the time the movie was pretty much factual to what went on.
In fact i just watched American justice last night and it was a documentary about the greg smart murder it got me thinking about that movie again and thats why i looked it up on the internet and i saw someone elses comment about how horrible the movie was and i felt i had to make a comment because i totally disagree.
To anyone out there who hasn't seen it I definitely recommend it..
Lame movie.
This movie about what at the time was considered one of the most horrific murders ever because of the circumstances, was a waste of time.
Helen Hunt was game in the role of Pam Smart, but everything else in this movie was so terrible.
Chad Allen as her teen lover was an embarrassment, I couldn't see any reason why they would go head over heels for each other in real life by the way these two actors went pedestrianly about their way.
A very big waste of time for anyone who watches this after reading this review..
Helen Hunt as a nasty sociopath.....
she does quite well in this made for TV film.
She certainly provides the audience with the personality of a hate-worthy narcissist, who, once she cannot get her way, and rise to stardom on TV news, decides the way to solve her career problem is to have her husband executed.Pamela Smart apparently was able to manipulate a student, Billy (well portrayed by a young Chad Allen).
She worked as media director at a high school, but that was not good enough for her lofty aspirations, so she manipulated Billy and his friend to murder Greg Smart, promising them insurance money as pay-off.
There is actually an amusing scene after her husband has been murdered, and Pamela Smart is worried about how she will look on the 6PM news.Hank Stratton as Gregory Smart is a bit too innocent, but we do feel sorry for his fate.
Seems an odd question, but did Pam Smart ever hear of divorce?.Howard Hesseman is not in the film long enough, but offers a good performance, and the courtroom scenes are thankfully left to a minimum.
Michael Learned and Ken as Greg's well-meaning parents.Overall a decent docudrama which has probably been elevated to cult status by now, as Pamela Smart in real life is now petitioning for yet another appeal.
It was real, it was good but not real good..
The movie was a typical TV movie of the week.
The actors did well with the script they had to work with but they really didn't have much to work with.
I wouldn't rate the movie as high as I do if Chad Allen didn't look so cute in it.
All in all I'd say it was a pretty average to slightly above average made for TV movie..
Ho-Hum, ZZZZZ.
Although I really do appreciate Helen Hunt as an actress in other films, I feel that she was a wrong choice for playing the part of Pamela Smart in this picture.
Hunt is too soft for this role which one can see by watching Pamela Smart on the television show 'American Justice'.
Also, the movie didn't go by all the facts, even though these things were small in nature - for example, Billy Flynn was not a blond guy, he has brown hair and certain things in the film were altered from the true facts that were reported on national television when Pamela Smart was on trial for the murder of her husband, Greg Smart.
I think a lot of trouble with the picture had to do with the script - there just wasn't enough passion (not in the love sense, necessarily) in any of the scenes like when Smart (Hunt) is talking to Flynn (Chad Allen) about killing her husband, etc.
They might as well have been talking about going and getting a cup of coffee or planning on going on a picnic together.
I was thoroughly disappointed in this film and therefore rated it a 1 out of 10 because it didn't have any suspense about it at all and the acting was terrible as well..
Excellent Movie!.
I loved this movie.
It's too bad that Pamela Smart does not take any responsibility for any of her crimes and actions.
She is as guilty as anyone can be.
I'm glad she ran out of appeals and legal options and that her pardon was denied.
She took them to the Federal level.
She says she deserves leniency because she's been good in prison.
I don't know about you but I think people are supposed to be good in prison.
Chad Allen was great in this movie.Reasons Pamela smart is guilty: 1.
She had an affair with a teenage boy.2.
She is a sociopatic liar.3.
She is cold hearted.4.
She did not show any emotion when her husband was murdered.5.
Denial.6.
Knew everything about the crime.7.
Jury and evidence found her guilty..
Enthralled..
High school kids can be pretty dumb.
When I was a sophomore I couldn't understand why I had to take orders from some of the teachers, since I could outrun all of them.
As far as the Other Side of the Cold War was concerned, we wondered what all the nonsense was about talking.
Why not lay down the law, and if they violate it, let's let 'em have it.It was a Newtonian world.
It depended entirely on mechanics.
Adolescence, for a boy, was like one long weight-lifting contest.
Judging from the kids in this docudrama, things haven't changed much.
If anything, they're even dumber.
In a recent survey of college seniors, only 23% knew James Madison was "the father of the Constitution" but 98% knew that Snoop Doggy Dog was a rapper.
Shameful.Well, I'm done scolding.
Someone help me down off this soap box?
Thank you.
Four high school kids -- three boys and a homely girl -- are seduced into murdering the husband of a prize-winning insurance salesman by the guy's wife, who is in charge of the high school's Media Center.
They shoot the guy in the head and she pays them ten thousand dollars and makes herself into a sexual receptacle for the handsomest boy.
I would never have done anything like that in high school.
The fist fights were tough enough.
Of course, none of our teachers were as fluffy and sexy as Helen Hunt.
Not that the young art teacher, Miss Elaine Cohen was a slouch, but it just wouldn't have happened.
If Miss Cohen had made herself available and asked me to off her boy friend, I wouldn't have done it.
I don't think.The plot sticks pretty close to the historic events.
It's kind of clumsy, the way real life is clumsy.
A good dramatic structure would have the kids succeeding on the first try.
But, as often happens, these kids are scared by the magnitude of the crime and they fail the first two tests.
They're all ready to go -- until it's time to go.
Then they "get lost" or the timing was off.After each failure, a disbelieving Hunt remonstrates with the kids and withholds her sexual favors from the best-looking kid.
She finally makes the arrangement that works, while warning them to use only the pistol -- no knives, because knives are sloppy and get blood all over the furniture and carpets and it never comes out.
And lock the dog away before you do it.
"The last thing I want is a traumatized dog," she mutters in all earnestness.Helen Hunt handles the role well.
She's alluring in a curious way, with an oddly shaped nose and drooping epicanthic folds.
Nicely built, too.
The kids aren't as good.
Actually, they're pretty bad.
The "handsome kid" can act about as well as you or I can.
The girl is a bit more convincing in projecting a character with the intelligence and moral sensibilities of a rather mature head of broccoli.Hunt's motives are left murky.
Was she jealous of Greg's success?
Not likely, because she'd just gotten a promotion herself.
Another lover somewhere?
Nah. Greg was faithful, and she was only manipulating the kid she was banging.
Money?
Money?
It's not mentioned.
The reason we're puzzled is that we sometimes treat life as if it were a coherent and easily grasped fictional narrative, something out of Agatha Christie.
It's difficult for us to understand that the exercise of power can itself be a powerful motive.
The ability to bend others to your will.
It's one of the reasons people want to be president, even though they make less money than a professional ball player.
It's the only reason Charles Manson organized his family.
Another motive is related to Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Everyone will shower tears and affection on the poor bereaved widow.
Also a good murder will bring a few moments of excitement to a boring marriage, while at the same time ending it.
If you want to see an excellent, if fictionalized, dramatization of the Pamela Smart story, see if you can find "To Die For." Nobody is more seductive than Nicole Kidman as Pamela Smart -- and no one could be more stupid than Joaquin Phoenix as the handsomest boy..
Uninteresting Drag.
Largely disappointing film which does a terrible job of accounting the shocking and brutal murder of a young newly married New Hampshire man at the hands of his wife's school boy lover and his teenage friends.Neither Joyce Chopra nor her screen writing team have made any attempt to emotionally involve their audience, and any attention to the details of this tragic case is completely non-existent, thus leaving the viewers frustrated and starved of information.The entire cast are all very ordinary and uninspiring which results in a potentially fascinating and aggravating true story (although claimed to be fictitious in the end credits) becoming an uninteresting drag.
Watch an old "Colombo" re-run instead!Thursday, August 4, 1994 - T.V.