William Smith growing up

William Lester Smith, who went by Billy in his youth, was the baby of the family. He was the youngest of 6—one of 2 boys.

In 1963, William was a freshman at Hampden Academy in Maine. He sang in the choir, camped and hiked with the Outing Club, volunteered at the school library, and belonged to the Commercial Club—a group for kids who wanted to succeed in the business world. He graduated in 1966 and joined the National Guard.

In April of 1968, William, age 21, was working as a video film editor at WABI, cutting up the rolls of negatives and, among other things, placing commercials at the proper moments. He was engaged to a young woman named Margaret, who was just 17 and getting ready to graduate high school. The couple didn’t want to wait for her to turn 18 to tie the knot, so they decided to elope in Canada

They moved in together in a home in Hampden, but no sooner than they moved in did William end up having to go to New York for some work with the National Guard. When he was gone, a misunderstanding got blown out of proportion, and after he returned in September, encouraged by his mother, he decided to call off their very brief marriage.

We don’t know when, but sometime around his late-20s, he left his job at WABI, left his hometown, and left Maine altogether, becoming a new man.

William’s new life in Massachusetts

By 1983, William, a 36-year-old man who now went by Les (which was short for Lester), had moved to a small town in Massachusetts south of Boston. Though people from Massachusetts knew him as Les at this point of his life, we’ll stick with William for consistency. William was the Vice President of the Southeastern Massachusetts Mineral Club.

His sister told us that he frequently returned on the weekends from Massachusetts to spend time at home. She also said that he was into jewelry-making—likely transforming the raw materials he collected from his club trips into wearable treasure.

We spoke to an old acquaintance of William’s from the Southeastern Massachusetts Mineral Club, who remembered a field trip with him in May of 1983. William offered to drive, so it was William, David, and Ed, in his little hatchback car—a late-model AMC Pacer “Woody Wagon". David recalled that for the entire four-hour drive from Boston Metro to Herkimer, New York, William was constantly honking his horn. There was a National Guard event near Boston and there were countless military vehicles heading the opposite way on the highway—William would honk and wave to every one of them.For David, what was at first charming became tiring. David, though, had no idea until we spoke with him that William had previously served in the National Guard, which likely accounted for his passion.

David didn’t recall many other details about the trip, but what he did remember was that it was the last time that he ever saw William.

Mount Apatite Park: the murder

A month after the trip to New York, on Friday, June 24th, William drove his AMC Pacer from Massachusetts up to Maine to head to Mt. Apatite.

Mount Apatite was formerly the site of several mines and quarries. It was a feldspar mine a century ago, and was favored for its gemstones. The city of Auburn purchased the land in the 1970s for public use, and to this day, 325-acres of new-growth forest and a world-famous geological site is open year-round.

When William arrived at the old Mica mines around 3:00PM, there were several teenagers picking through the rubble in search of treasure. One of them was 16-year-old Jeff Smith—though they shared a last name, they were not related.

Jeff was an inexperienced camper, and had borrowed a tent from his friend who had driven him from Lewiston and dropped him off at the park. His friend had also lent him a hatchet: a small, hand-held ax designed for chopping small pieces of wood. Jeff had come alone.

According to Jeff’s account of the day, he and William collected rocks for “several hours.” What is uncontested is that he and William spent some daylight hours together on the afternoon at Mt. Apatite in apparent harmony. Jeff’s story from this point, however, would vary over time.

That evening, “before sunset,” Jeff would attack William with a hatchet. William was badly hurt—covered in wounds from a dull blade—and losing blood, but still alive. He felt himself being dragged along the ground. He was aware of a weight on him as Jeff covered him with old boards and sheet metal.

Over the course of several hours, in excruciating pain, William attempted to move. If he could get to the main trail, maybe someone would find him before it was too late... Despite the warm air, William grew colder until he gradually lost consciousness. He knew he would never leave this place.

Two days later, a woman named Linda was hiking with her husband and children. For a split second she was horrified to see an animal carcass torn apart on the ground. But she soon realized that what she saw was a human being.

He was described by reporters and the police as “essentially unclothed.” The autopsy concluded that William died of “blunt-force trauma and multiple lacerations to the head and body.” He did not die of his wounds instantly, but bled to death over a period of hours. They guessed the body had either been dragged by the killer or William had dragged himself in an attempt to find help. The coroner described the wounds as likely caused by “an axe or hatchet.” He also said, “It was not exceedingly sharp. It was heavy.” In other words, he had not only been cut, but bludgeoned with the weapon.

A canvas bag that belonged to William was found in a nearby outhouse. The contents of the bag and William’s car were described as “homosexual paraphernalia.” This included unspecified magazines, intimate undergarments, and “leather items.” Sex between men was only legal in Maine since 1976, and gay men (and women) were still regarded with suspicion. Reporters asked police if the murder had a “homosexual connection.”

The Investigation into Jeff Smith

Luckily for the police, it was obvious who the killer was, and they arrested him at his home in Lewiston on the afternoon of Monday, June 27—the day after William’s body was discovered… 3 days since his murder.

Police took into evidence some of Jeff’s belongings. These included horror and sci-fi magazines, comic books, blood-stained clothing, news clippings, and a diary—the contents of which have never been made public. But most noteworthy was a swastika in an unspecified form. That, in conjunction with books like “666,” “Anatomy of a Murder,” and Playboy magazines, probably left investigators with some impressions about the teen…

Jeff had a reputation for troublemaking. He had previously “threatened someone with a BB gun and told them it was a .22-caliber firearm.” At some point he attended The Good Will-Hinckley School, “a day treatment [center] focused on children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges.”

Not only had Jeff been seen with William at the park, he had told 3 different people that he had hit William with a hatchet.

Juvenile vs Adult

Jeff Smith was 16 years and 6 months old at the time he killed William. Because it was a year-and-a-half before his 18th birthday, the court had to decide whether or not he would be treated as a juvenile.

At a hearing on Thursday, July 14th, a few weeks after the killing, the judge granted a request by the prosecution to have Jeff evaluated by staff at the Maine Youth Center. The decision would ride on the outcome of the evaluation.

On February 16th, 1984, Jeff returned to district court in Lewiston.

The prosecutor for the attorney general’s office, Matthew Dyer, argued that Jeff should be treated as an adult. Representatives from the Maine Youth Center testified that Jeff was “uncooperative, calculating, and defiant.” A psychiatrist that worked for the Maine Youth Center diagnosed Jeff with antisocial personality disorder. He said that Jeff “had a superior intellect, a bad attitude, and no motivation to change it.” He described his prognosis as “poor.”

Jeff’s attorney, Ronald Lebel, said that shortly after Jeff’s arrival at the Youth Center, staff wrote him off, categorizing him as “untreatable.” He concluded by saying, “Perhaps the Youth Center people gave up on Jeff Smith too early. I’d ask the court not to do so [as well].”

On February 21st, 1984, Judge Damon Scales ruled that Jeff would be treated as an adult. That decision was based on reports submitted by eight different psychiatrists. Other than the contents of those reports, the judge said he based his decision on Jeff’s poor juvenile record and the many conflicting versions of the story Jeff had told about the night of William’s murder.

Jeff pleads to lesser charge of manslaughter

In October of 1984, the grand jury returned an indictment against Jeff. Things were marching toward trial. But on Friday, February 1, 1985—the day before trial was to begin—a decision in the 11th hour was made. Jeff had made a deal with the prosecutor—he would plead guilty to the lesser crime of manslaughter, and there would be no trial.

The prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Goodwin, told the court, “If Jeff Smith had told the truth from the beginning, there’s a very good chance he would have been charged with manslaughter, not murder.” More directly, Goodwin said, “murder doesn’t appear to be an appropriate charge in the case,” which all but admitted that state had mischarged Jeff.

The prosecutor filed with the court a revised charging document—this one for manslaughter—which read, “On or about June 27, 1983, Jeff S. Smith, while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation, intentionally or knowingly caused the death of William Smith.”

So, what was it? Was he fending off a sexual advance? Was he engaged in mutual combat? Was it self-defense?

Or was he caught in the throes of gay panic?

Gay Panic

The “homosexual,” a gay man as he was referred to in the 1980s, was widely considered to be deviant and abnormal—a corrupting influence—just being around one would put you at risk of contracting his ‘disease.’ If a homosexual were so bold as to make sexual advances toward a ‘normal’ straight man, a violent response wouldn’t just be a risk, it would be expected, and it would be excused. Inclinations such as his were shrouded in euphemism: abnormal, aberrant, and unnatural.

Psychological authorities considered same-sex attraction a disease or mental disorder. “Homosexuality” was a listed disorder in certain psychological manuals. Some psychologists theorized that fear of one’s own homosexuality could result in “gay panic.” According to this theory, an individual could become so fearful of their own homosexual feelings, that the presence of another gay man could render them “temporarily insane.” The term “homosexual panic disorder” appeared in a 1952 manual, but in the few cases where it had actually been diagnosed, patients had symptoms that were inwardly-focused, with noted passivity, not aggression.

In the 1960s, the “gay panic” defense emerged in court as a supporting argument. Men charged with murder would argue that they had violent psychotic reactions, causing them to lose control over their mental faculties, rendering them temporarily insane. But “gay panic” really found its home in provocation defenses. Over time, the psychological diagnosis—which implied that the defendant had a mental disorder which was exemplified by a fear that they themselves were gay—was abandoned, but the legal strategy stuck and the story evolved.

There are certain scenarios which are widely held in courtrooms across America to be so provoking that they partially excuse the act of murder. The quintessential example is catching a partner in the act of cheating. These scenarios, if they immediately precede the murder, can serve to reduce a defendant’s charge from murder to manslaughter—violence that is perpetrated in the “heat of the moment.”

The gay panic argument, as applied to provocation, went something like this. A homosexual came onto me and I, a reasonably normal heterosexual man, while under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance, killed him.

Here is an example from an actual court case:

The killer accepted a ride to a friend’s house from the victim. They were complete strangers. While in the car, the victim asked the killer his thoughts on gay men. The killer said he had gay friends and had no issue with them. Later, when both men were out of the vehicle, the victim grabbed the killer’s arm in a way that the killer viewed as a sexual advance. At that point, the killer “allegedly went into a state of unconsciousness and attacked the victim, ultimately stabbing him seventeen times, and then drove away in the victim’s vehicle.”

The killer argued that the stabbing was committed in the heat of passion and the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.

In 2013, the American Bar Association began advocating state legislators to ban “gay panic” criminal defenses. And in 2019, Maine did just that, with the governor signing into law LD 1632, “An Act Regarding Criminal Procedure with Respect to Allowable Defenses.” As of 2024, 20 states have enacted similar bans, and legislative action is pending in several others.

Jeff Smith sentenced, re-offends

On February 21st, 1985, Judge Robert Clifford sentenced Jeff Smith to 14 years in prison. He said that, though he could have sentenced Jeff up to 20 years, he noted several “mitigating factors,” including Jeff’s young age, his lack of a serious criminal record, and “the nature of the sexual advances to which he was subjected.”

Jeff’s pretrial confinement counted towards his 14 years—time spent at the Maine Youth Center and Androscoggin County Jail. He also could get out earlier with good behavior—which he did. After 10 years served, Jeff was freed.

Within three months of his release, Jeff reoffended. In the rubble of a Lewiston building destroyed by fire, he sexually assaulted a 4-year-old boy. He took polaroid photos of the assault. After assaulting the boy, Jeff claimed he had acted without thinking, under the influence of LSD. He described being unable to distinguish memories of assaulting the child from psychedelic hallucinations. He claimed to be horrified at what he’d done under the influence, and that he took the drug because he struggled to adjust to life after prison. This time, his story was less sympathetic—no one forced him to take acid, that was his choice alone.

Today, decades later, 58-year-old Jeffrey Scott Smith lives in Portland, Maine, and is a registered sex offender. He violated probation multiple times putting him in jail multiple times over the years, but has no other violent charges.

Evidence for murder

The evidence that Jeff committed the crime of murder is overwhelming.

Jeff hit William with the hatchet 8 times, resulting in skull fractures and deep cuts. The autopsy showed that there were injuries on William’s back and on the back of his head suggesting that he was attacked from behind or even trying to flee.

Jeff stole William’s watch. Even if the gay panic defense were believed, what would induce him to steal? It’s hard to fit robbery into a story of temporary insanity, self-defense, or provocation. Criminologist Steve Tomsen wrote that “the number of cases where [gay] murders have been accompanied by robbery suggests that criminal opportunism is a frequent motive for these killings.”

Jeff knew what he did was wrong—he hid William’s body under boards and sheet metal—concealing his crime, showing consciousness of guilt.

A professor at St. Edwards University catalogued gay panic cases and found some patterns. Usually, the victim was robbed and often the killer was much younger than the victim.

Which brings up an important point: Jeff was a 16-year-old minor. William was a 36-year-old man. He was more than twice his age. This story isn’t without its thorns. William is not a perfect victim. That William was willing to act on his attraction to a teenage boy raises questions about William’s own judgment. Though I’m unsure how these laws were written in 1983, this appears to be statutory rape.

Jeff spoke to a psychiatrist at the Maine Youth Center and said that he had had “consensual sex” with William—as consensual as sex between a minor and an adult can be.

In Jeff’s own words, he was “ashamed of what happened” and “wanted to frighten William into not coming back.” So he told the psychiatrist, “I followed him.”

And then there’s Jeff’s character. Jeff was sent to the Maine Youth Center where he was evaluated by staff, and many different psychologists. They described him as having “anti-social personality disorder.” The hallmarks symptoms include “exploiting, manipulating, or violating the rights of others,” “a lack of concern, regret or remorse about others’ distress,” “being unable to control their anger,” and “repeatedly breaking the law.” He had a long history of juvenile criminal offenses.

Then, when he was finally released from prison, he almost immediately reoffended, and has continued to reoffend throughout his life.

William had no criminal offenses on his 36-year-old record. He was not a criminal.

State Police Detective Richard Pickett said he overheard Jeff make an emotional confession to his mother in a conference room at the police department. “He blurted out to his mother, ‘I don’t know why I f**king did it,’” Pickett said. Jeff told his mother the killing had been, “like a dream, just like a dream.”

This text has been adapted from the Murder, She Told podcast episode, The Murder of William Lester Smith. To hear William’s full story, find Murder, She Told on your favorite podcast platform.

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Sources For This Episode

Newspaper articles

Various articles from Bangor Daily News, Boston Globe, Evening Express, Journal Tribune, Kennebec Journal, Lewiston Daily Sun, Morning Sentinel, and the Sun Journal, here.

Written by various authors including Cliff Hodgman, George Manlove, Mark Mogensen, Richard Weir, Tammy Eves, and Tim Allen.

Interviews

Special thanks to William’s friend, David, who shared his memories of rock hunting with him.

Special thanks to William’s sister, Bettie, who was kind enough to speak to us on her porch a nice Maine afternoon.

Special thanks to Margaret, William’s first wife, who shared her memories of their brief marriage.

Other written sources

“The Gay Panic Defense” by Cynthia Lee, 2008

“Maine geologic facts and localities” by Maine Geological Survey, 2001

Photos

Photos from Google Maps, Sun Journal, Bangor Daily News, Hampden Academy Yearbook, and the personal collections of David and Bettie.

Online written sources

'Francis L. Porter, Sr.' (Bangor Daily News), 9/25/2008

'William L. Smith' (Find a Grave), 1/17/2013, by Beth Ivie-Allen

'Inez Leola Thompson Smith' (Find a Grave), 1/17/2013, by Beth Ivie-Allen

'Gloria Ann Smith' (Find a Grave), 1/17/2013, by Beth Ivie-Allen

Credits

Research, vocal performance, and audio editing by Kristen Seavey

Research, photo editing, and writing by Byron Willis

Writing by Anne Young

Additional research by Kimberly Clark

Murder, She Told is created by Kristen Seavey.