BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) – The gunman in the notorious Pamela Smart murder case has been denied an early release from prison.

William Flynn, 33, was 16 in 1990, when he shot Smart’s husband in the couple’s condominium. He said he killed Smart at the behest of Pamela Smart, a media coordinator at Flynn’s high school who had been carrying on an affair with the teen.

Judge Kenneth McHugh, in an order released Tuesday, said that upon reviewing all of the factors the case presents, he is compelled to find that 18 years in prison for the murder isn’t enough. McHugh wrote that after hearing the expressions of hurt and anger from the Smart family at a hearing last month, the court suspects that even Flynn “in the deep recesses of his soul would agree.”

McHugh said that Flynn’s rehabilitation is not the issue, but the appropriate amount of prison time he has to serve.

He determined that when Flynn has served 25 years in prison he will become eligible for parole once again.

Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, cooperated with prosecutors and was a key witness against Smart in her sensational trial. The case was the basis for the movie “To Die For,” starring Nicole Kidman in 1995.

Smart, who is serving a life sentence, does not deny the affair but maintains she had nothing to do with the murder.


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