Longest-serving US prisoner dies at 101 after escaping death penalty 8 times

Francis Clifford Smith, believed to be the longest-serving U.S. prisoner, died at 101 in late June after a death warrant was set and then delayed eight separate times. Imprisoned for a 1949 murder in Connecticut, the case involved Smith, then 25, following the fatal shooting of Grover Hart during an attempted robbery at a yacht club. Smith was scheduled for execution eight times over 76 years, while maintaining his innocence despite recantations and repudiations of testimony. He was commuted to life in 1954, served 76 years behind bars, escaped in 1967 for 12 days, and later had parole before returning for parole violations.