Murderers Who Got Parol and Killed Again
Freckle-faced killer Eric Smith, at present 42, freed on parole, says he'south engaged
Plan Note: Due to the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament on CBS, "Eric Smith: Gambling on a Killer" did not air on Sabbatum, March 19. It will air on Saturday, March 26 at x/9c.
Eric Smith spent 28 years behind bars for the 1993 murder of a 4-year-former boy. He was released from prison in Feb. Is he a changed man? The parents of the murdered child speak with "48 Hours" and CBS News chief investigative and senior national contributor Jim Axelrod in their first all-encompassing interview since Smith was released in "Eric Smith: Gambling on a Killer."
August 2, 1993, marked a horrific day for small-scale town Savona, New York, when local teenager Eric Smith murdered a four-yr-old boy, Derrick Robie, who lived across boondocks. Early that forenoon, Smith, 13, had spotted the child walking alone to a summer army camp at the park.
"It'south the first fourth dimension I ever let [Derrick] become anywhere lone," Derrick's grieving mother, Doreen Robie, told "48 Hours." "And it was one block downward, same side of the street. … He gave me a kiss and I said, 'I dearest you.' He says, 'I beloved you, Mom.' And he went hopping off the sidewalk."
Smith lured the child into a wooded area, promising to show him a shortcut. When they were lone, he strangled Derrick and crush him to death with rocks.
Robie reported her son missing afterwards being told he never arrived at the park. Hours later, searchers plant Derrick'south torso only yards away from the park, in the woods.
With the killer at large, Savona residents feared for their own children. They couldn't imagine anyone wanting to kill the popular little T-ball player they called "the unofficial mayor of Savona," the happy child who would sit at the corner greeting people. They assumed the killer was a stranger, from out of town.
In the days that followed, a family friend of the Smiths grew concerned about Eric's behavior. Marlene Heskell told "48 Hours" that on the night of the murder, "[Eric] asked me what would happen if it turned out to be a child. I said, 'I think they seriously need some psychiatric help.' And he-- 'Oh, OK,' you know. And he walked away." She remembered that Eric had gone to the same park well-nigh the criminal offence scene. "And that's when information technology all kind of come to together for me that, OK, he might actually know something or have seen something."
Heskell called Smith'due south mother and they took Eric to the constabulary command post to run across with investigators. Investigator John Hibsch said Eric seemed to savour speaking about the murder. "Totally enjoyed it. Didn't want it to end."
Eric denied seeing the petty male child at first, but later on confessed to the crime.
His grandfather was in that location and recalled Eric maxim, "'I'one thousand sorry, Mom. I'thou sorry. I killed that little boy.'"
In Baronial 1994, Smith, now fourteen, was tried as an adult and sentenced to nine years to life in prison house. Smith was held in a juvenile detention heart and transferred to a prison for adults after he turned 21.
Near nine years after his crime, Smith had his outset parole hearing. His parole was denied.
But Smith would have more than opportunities for parole every two years for nigh ii decades. It was a recurring nightmare for the Robie family.
"It upsets me, the fact that we have to beg to keep this killer behind bars," Doreen Robie said. "They could make up one's mind that well, now he'southward done his time and we're going to let him become … It scares the hell out of me."
Over the years, Smith spoke out about his feel. In 2004, Smith, then 24 years one-time, told "48 Hours" that he had killed Derrick Robie afterwards years of existence relentlessly bullied past other kids.
John Tunney, who prosecuted Smith, told "48 Hours" contributor Jim Axelrod, "What I do believe is that Eric was tired of existence the victim in his mind … and he wanted to see what it felt like to be the victimizer."
In his 2004 parole board hearing, Smith admitted to the board that he got a good feeling from strangling Derrick at the fourth dimension "because -- instead of me being hurt, I was hurting somebody else." He also admitted if he hadn't been charged back in 1993, that he probably would accept killed again, confirming John Tunney'due south belief that at age 13, Smith was a budding serial killer. Smith's parole was denied in 2004.
Smith was interviewed a few years subsequently by CBS News chapter WENY-TV. In 2009, he said he hoped to become a counselor and so he could help other kids who were bullied like he was.
"My anger wasn't directed at Derrick at all," Smith explained. "It was directed at … all the other guys that used to pick on me. And when I was torturing and killing Derrick … that was what I saw in my caput."
He understood why the Robies didn't desire him released. "I did impale Derrick," Smith said. "And for that, yous know, I am sorry … if I could switch places with him and take the grave for him to live, I'd exercise it in a second…"
Smith said afterwards years of therapy, he was a inverse man. "You can characterization me a monster, a cold-blooded killer, a demon child, Satan incarnate. … Doesn't mean that's who I am."
He also believed he would be released someday. "I want to, you know, get married and raise a family unit. You know, concord down, you know, a job. Pursue the American dream."
Dream though he might, his parole would exist denied again and once more — until October 2021. Smith, now 41, went before the lath for the 11th time.
During this parole hearing, Smith revealed his time to come plans, and said he even had a fiancée. He said she had written to him with questions about the juvenile justice system, he said, since she was studying to exist a lawyer. They started getting to know each other and eventually, he says, they vicious in love.
He felt God was calling on him to do ministry and said that while incarcerated, he was working on getting his college degree in crusade evangelism. He was also looking forwards to working in electrical installation or carpentry.
"I'm non a threat," Smith said to the board. "The 13-year-old kid that took [Derrick's] life… is not the man sitting in front of you talking … if you were to requite me the chance, I would not only bear witness that I'm not a threat. I would definitely exist an asset to society."
The board decided to give Smith that run a risk. Afterward news broke that Smith would exist released, in November 2021, the Savona community held a peaceful protestation to make it clear they didn't want Eric back.
"I wasn't so much worried about us as I was everybody else," Doreen Robie said.
"I just knew where a lot of people in town in the village stood," Dale Robie added.
Smith'southward release was delayed for months until he had secured approved housing. In February, after serving 28 years, the now 42-year-quondam was released. He is now a free man living in Queens, New York.
"I don't let him take space in my head," Doreen Robie said. "I do not focus on where he is, what he's doing. … 'cause I don't care. As long as he's not well-nigh friends and family."
Axelrod spoke with John Tunney afterward Smith's release. "Will Eric Smith exist a success story?" he asked. "Or somebody we're pointing to and maxim, 'The system blew it with that one'?"
"That's exactly right," Tunney said. "I continue going back to my hope … Time will tell."
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Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-smith-murderer-parole-derrick-robie/
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