My Time with Convicted Murderer Pamela Smart

Behind the Razor Wire

Pamela Smart , convicted murder, and I have been in contact for almost 4 years now. Here is our story.

Approaching my senior year in college I decided to stray away from my major. I always had this fascination with the criminal justice system, yet it was an avenue that I never explored. The first course of this nature I took was "Women and Criminal Justice." Without any background at all, most deemed I would be a failure. About a week into the course we received our first written assignment. It read: "Pick an infamous female offender from the list provided and write a well-crafted paper discussing the role of gender in the outcome of the case."

Dr. Casey Jordan went around the room and asked each student whom they wanted to write about. It was the first subject matter we had covered in the semester, and would play a significant role in the grading. Each student told the class who they were writing about. Aileen Wuornos, Mary Kaye Letourneu, and Karla Faye Tucker. One after another these names repeated. We had already studied most of the offenders they had chosen. Wuornos was the basis of the movie "Monster" from which Charlize Theron won an Oscar. Karla Faye Tucker had been executed a few years prior after much debate. Then there was Mary Kay Letourneau. Everyone knew what she did with Villi. Nobody had mentioned one name: Pamela Smart. I decided then and there that she would be my topic. Her name looked unfamiliar to me. Even my professor had mentioned she was a "good choice but a tough one." Very quickly I would become familiar with Ms. Smart. The unfamiliar name would soon make my life much more interesting.