Francis Clifford Smith, believed to be the longest-serving inmate in United States history, has died aged 101.
Smith, who spent roughly 70 years in prison, died on June 25 while on supervised parole at the 60 West nursing home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, according to GreenwichTime.
He was still serving a life sentence at the time of his death, making him the oldest person in the US serving a criminal sentence.
David Skoczulek, a spokesman for 60 West, told the BBC that Smith "essentially.. died of old age."
"He had very limited family involvement around his passing but we assured it was appropriate, met his wishes and was dignified," Skoczulek said.
Andrius Banevicius, public information officer for the Connecticut Department of Correction, called Smith's longevity unusual.
"It's quite remarkable to make it to 101, for anyone," Banevicius said. "Prison life is not great for longevity."
Smith's body was cremated without a funeral, the Boston Globe reported.
Murder conviction
Smith was 25 when he was sentenced to death in 1950 for the July 1949 murder of Grover S Hart.
Hart, a 68-year-old night watchman at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, was shot with bullets from two different guns and died about two days later, according to GreenwichTime.
Police arrested Smith and George Lowden, another petty criminal, linking them to the murder through ballistic evidence.
Lowden took a plea deal to avoid the electric chair and offered evidence against Smith.
He told authorities that Smith fired four shots at Hart, while admitting to firing one shot himself.
Smith maintained his innocence and never confessed, but a jury convicted him of first-degree murder.
Spared from execution
Smith was sent to death row, where he was given his last meal eight times before being cleared of the sentence.
His execution was repeatedly halted, including after witnesses recanted their statements and a separate inmate confessed to the murder, the BBC reported.
Questions over his involvement stymied seven execution attempts.
On June 7, 1954, just two hours before he was scheduled to be electrocuted, the Connecticut Board of Pardons commuted his sentence to 25 years to life in prison.
During a three-hour hearing, Leo Carroll, a former Connecticut State Police major and the lead investigator on the case, testified that he was "positive [Smith] didn't kill Grover Hart."
"I'm not even sure he was at the murder," Carroll said, according to GreenwichTime.
Decades in prison
While incarcerated at the Osborn Correctional Institute in Somers, Smith became known as the "Birdman of Osborn."
Banevicius said Smith would "stuff as much bread as he could" into his clothes to feed the birds, and that staff "kind of turned a blind eye to it."
Smith's time in custody was occasionally interrupted. In 1967, he escaped from prison and was recaptured after 12 days.
Roughly seven years later, he went home for Christmas Eve, returning to prison the following day.
In 1975, Smith was granted parole. He was free for about 10 months before being arrested and charged with larceny and possession of dangerous weapons, according to the Boston Globe.
Although he was not convicted, he was returned to prison for violating his parole.
Two of his last recorded visitors came on Christmas Eve in 1993.
Smith refused parole for decades until he was convinced to apply in 2020 at age 95, reasoning that he had been "sitting here for a long time," the Boston Globe reported.
He was paroled to the Rocky Hill nursing home, where he spent his final six years.
At the time of his death, the Department of Correction still listed his status as "sentenced" and his location as "nursing home."
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Connecticut Department of Correction for comment.
