Longest-serving prisoner death raises questions after Francis Clifford Smith died at 101 while still claiming innocence.
Francis Clifford Smith, believed to be the longest-serving prisoner in U.S. history, has died at 101 after spending more than seven decades tied to a murder conviction he continued to deny.
Smith died on June 25, 2026, while on supervised parole at 60 West, a nursing facility in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, according to reports from CTPost and People.
He was just months away from his 102nd birthday.
A 1949 Killing In Greenwich
Smith was convicted in the killing of Grover S. Hart, a 68-year-old night watchman at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Hart was shot during a robbery at the club in the early morning of July 23, 1949.
A 1951 Connecticut Supreme Court decision said Smith was found guilty of first-degree murder after prosecutors relied on circumstantial evidence connecting him to a car tied to the crime.
The court upheld his conviction at the time.
Spared From Execution Eight Times
Smith was sentenced to death when he was in his mid-20s.
Reports say he was scheduled for execution eight times, but each execution was delayed or stopped.
In 1954, his death sentence was commuted to life in prison.
The case drew attention for decades because doubts later emerged about the evidence used to convict him.
Doubts Followed The Case
Smith maintained his innocence until the end of his life.
People reported that another person later claimed responsibility for the crime, though Smith was denied a new trial.
The Boston Globe reported that a former investigator in the case later told a pardon board he doubted Smith had killed Hart.
Despite those doubts, Smith’s conviction was never overturned, and he was never legally cleared of the murder.
Brief Freedom And Final Years
Smith spent most of his life in custody, with only short periods outside prison.
He escaped in 1967 and was captured 12 days later. He was later granted parole in 1975, but returned to prison after a parole violation.
In 2020, he accepted supervised parole and was placed at 60 West.
The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services describes 60 West as a skilled nursing facility that can receive referrals from state correctional institutions for people who need nursing-home-level care.
A Case That Still Raises Questions
Smith’s death closes one of the longest prison stories in modern U.S. history, but it does not settle the debate around his conviction.
For Hart’s family, the case began with the killing of a working man during a robbery.
For Smith’s supporters and some legal observers, the case became a symbol of how long a disputed conviction can follow a person.
Smith died in his sleep and was later cremated, according to reports.
He leaves behind a record that is both historic and deeply contested.