Pamela Smart's Request For Sentence Reduction Hearing Denied Again

CONCORD, N.H. (CBS./AP) -- Pamela Smart, a former high school employee convicted of recruiting her teenage lover to kill her husband, was denied a sentence reduction hearing Wednesday, more than 30 years after a sensational trial that inspired books and a Nicole Kidman movie.

Smart's request was rejected in a 5-0 vote by a New Hampshire state council.

"I am absolutely convinced that there's no evidence or argument" to grant a commutation request, councilor Janet Stevens said during a short discussion.

This was Smart's third attempt to get out of prison. In 1990, she received a life sentence for her role in the shooting death of her husband Gregg.

Four teenagers, including one Smart was having an affair with, shot and killed Gregg in Derry, New Hampshire. Smart's attorney says she has accepted responsibility for her actions.

In 2019, WBZ-TV's Paula Ebben interviewed Smart in prison. She said she will never admit to planning the murder.

The four men involved in the murder have all completed their prison sentences.

"The denial of the request for a new Hearing was disappointing," Smart spokesperson Eleanor Pam said in a statement. "Evidence presented in the petition was overwhelming, and any fair reading of it by fair minded persons would have resulted in a Hearing."

(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)