(February 8, 1934 – March 20, 2017) was an American convicted murderer, who was once on Death Row for the 1957 murder of fifteen-year-old honor student and cheerleader Victoria Ann Zielinski.
Vigorously contesting his conviction through the courts and in the media, Smith became a celebrity, and his case was argued in public most notably by conservative commentator William F.
Buckley Jr.
Smith eventually succeeded in winning a retrial and negotiating a reduced sentence, and was released only to be incarcerated for a second time for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Lefteriya Ozbun in 1976.