The death row inmate who was saved 8 times at the 11th hour — and lived to 101

"The oldest prisoner in America," who was sentenced to death and managed to receive a "last meal" no less than eight times, but whose execution was cancelled each time, passed away at the age of 101. This is reported by media outlets in the US and the UK.

Francis Clifford Smith from Connecticut is considered the person who served the longest prison term in US history. The nursing home where he was held in his final years defined the circumstances of his death as "death from old age."

Smith was only 25 when he was convicted in 1950 of the murder of Grover S. Hart, a 68-year-old night watchman at a yacht club in Greenwich, which occurred a year earlier. Hart was shot with two different pistols. Smith and another minor criminal, George Lauden, were arrested, and the police linked them to the murder through ballistic evidence. At that time, Smith already had a long record of convictions, including burglaries, car thefts, and escaping from a juvenile detention center.

After the arrest, Lauden signed a plea deal to avoid the electric chair and provided evidence that incriminated Smith. He claimed that Smith fired four bullets at Hart, while he fired one. Smith consistently claimed his innocence, but he was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

In the following years, Smith's life was saved again and again, among other things after witnesses at his trial recanted their testimony. In 1954, after an investigator testified that he was not at all sure that Smith was at the crime scene, Smith's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment — just two hours before the new date set for his execution in the electric chair. In total, he served about 70 years in prison, which is the longest period for a prisoner in the history of the USA.

People who knew Smith in prison testified that throughout his imprisonment he tended to isolate himself and that his main occupation was feeding birds through his cell window, using bread he used to stuff into his pockets during meals.

Smith passed away on June 25 while in the status of a parolee under supervision in a nursing home. Connecticut Department of Correction spokesperson Andrius Banevicius told the media that Smith "reaching the age of 101 is an extraordinary thing, for any person. Life in prison does not contribute to longevity." David Skoczulek, spokesperson for the "60 West" nursing home, stated that everything was done in accordance with Smith's wishes and with dignity. No funeral was held, and his body was cremated.

Although Smith was defined as a prisoner for more than 70 years, during this period he experienced three short periods of freedom. In 1967 he escaped from prison and was captured after 12 days, and in 1975 he received parole, but was returned to prison after 10 months for violating the terms of his release.

He refused to request parole until 2020, when he was finally convinced to do so at age 95. The parole board granted his request, and he was transferred to a nursing home.

Dr. Stephanie Frost, a researcher of aging among the prisoner population, notes that the field of incarceration is dealing with challenging issues of aging. Research shows that the number of prisoners aged 55 and over has surged, requiring plans for appropriate care for issues such as dementia, which can appear in prisoners at an earlier stage due to the accelerated aging caused by imprisonment.