Spared execution eight times, oldest inmate in US dies at 101

One of the officers who had interrogated Smith after his arrest later testified that he believed Smith was innocent."I'm not even sure he was present at the murder," Major Leo Carroll announced to the Board of Pardons, according to the Boston Globe.Smith served more than 70 years behind bars - other than three short stints of freedom.He escaped from prison in 1967 but was recaptured 12 days later. In 1974, we went home for Christmas Eve and returned the next day, Banevicius said. Then, in 1975, he was granted parole and was out for about 10 months - but he was soon arrested for petty larceny and possession of a weapon, which was a violation of his parole, according to the Boston Globe.Richard Sparaco, former executive director of what is now called the Board of Pardons and Paroles, told the Hartford Courant that Smith rejected several attempts afterwards to go back on parole until 2020, when he was granted supervised parole and moved to a care home for elderly people within the justice system.Dr Stephanie Prost, a researcher in older adults and prison settings at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, told the BBC that most prisons have an inmate like Smith."We're not the only jurisdiction that's facing that ageing-related crisis, because similar issues are percolating in Australia and England," she said.