Teen tied to murder that inspired movie 'To Die For' up for parole

CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) -- One of four teenagers convicted of helping Pamela Smart kill her husband -- a murder case that triggered a media frenzy and spawned the 1995 movie "To Die For" -- has his eye on freedom after spending nearly 13 years in prison.

Raymond Fowler, 31, who has been living in a halfway house in Concord since January, could be the first of the teens to be released. He was up for parole Thursday, and a parole board said in November that he was likely to be freed.

In 1990, Fowler, then 18, waited in a car while friend William Flynn shot insurance salesman Gregory Smart in the Derry condominium he shared with his wife, Pamela, prosecutors said.

Flynn, 15 at the time, had been having an affair with Pamela Smart, a 22-year-old media coordinator at the high school the teens attended. Smart knew Flynn from a self-esteem course she taught at the school.

Smart's lawyers argued that Flynn wanted Gregory Smart out of the way so he could continue the affair. Prosecutors said Smart wanted her husband killed so she wouldn't lose her condo, furniture and dog in a divorce.

The case was tabloid fodder and led to books and movies, including "To Die For," starring Nicole Kidman as a television-obsessed weather girl.

Fowler, Flynn and the other students connected to the slaying, Patrick Randall and Vance Lattime, received reduced sentences in exchange for testifying against Pamela Smart, who was sentenced to life without parole.

Fowler has said his role was minor and that he believed the teens were going to burglarize the home, not kill Gregory Smart.

Fowler pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy and attempted burglary and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. Flynn and Randall were sentenced to 28 years to life. Lattime got 18 years to life.

Prison officials have said Fowler was well behaved and earned his high school equivalency diploma. In November, he told the parole board he has trouble sleeping because of the murder.

Fowler's grandmother, Phila Sturgis, of Seabrook, said Tuesday that her grandson already has a steady job arranged through the prison and recently was promoted.

"We should be on cloud nine after 12 years," Sturgis said. "It's about time."

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