Oscar Smith, oldest inmate, was executed on Thursday morning in Tennessee. He killed his ex-wife and sons. This was Tennessee’s first execution after 2020. It may not have been fair as there was new DNA evidence three years back regarding the case that judge refused to consider.
The sentence of the man may have been changed if the trial went through, but that was not the case, and now he’s dead.
Over the years, Smith literally begged the justice system for a retrial. He had hoped for the system to change to prove his innocence. His last words were, “Somebody needs to tell the governor the justice system doesn’t work.”
One last time, he also said that he didn’t kill his wife, the crime he was proven guilty of back then. A pastor was present at the last moments, along with other inmates. According to the case, Oscar had stabbed his wife, leading to her death.
His wife, Judith Smith, died along with her sons Chad Burnett and Jason Burnett. The two were just thirteen and sixteen-year-old boys with life ahead of them. It was found that he murdered them in October of 1989. Next year he was sentenced. He was the oldest inmate on death row for almost 35 years.
TODAY: Tennessee is scheduled to carry out the execution of Oscar Franklin Smith for the murder of Judy Robirds Smith, and her children: Jason and Chad Burnett.
Smith’s execution will be the first in the state in 5 years. pic.twitter.com/uC3TpdgbXm
— Friday-Justice-Obsessions (@death_row0506) May 22, 2025
When new evidence came to light in the case, the country judge refused to reconsider it. The evidence showed there was one more person’s DNA on the murder weapons, so it might have proven Smith innocent.
The judge said that Smith was guilty, considering the evidence that was already there and that the DNA evidence did not change the truth. In the case, Smith’s coworkers claimed that he had asked them to kill his wife. Moreover, he was a violent man with a history of threatening his family. So, that cannot be ignored in any way. Another major proof was his taking insurance policies on all three members of his family, which could have been his motive. There was also a 911 call during the murder, and the kids said, “Frank, no!”
Tennessee carried out its first execution in five years Thursday as the state put convicted murderer Oscar Smith to death by lethal injection. He was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. Smith was convicted of the murder of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her two teen sons, Jason… pic.twitter.com/V7d2L7mQ6G
— Nickelle Smith (@NickelleReports) May 22, 2025
Frank is Oscar Smith’s middle name, so they were calling on him not to hurt them. Once the execution was over, Judith’s siblings felt peace and said they missed their deceased loved ones, who were his victims. All these years, they have suffered grief.
Even when he was proven guilty, several anti-death penalty protesters were there to support him. Terri Osborne stated that these are the dangers of domestic violence when death threats actually materialize. It might be hard to leave an abusive spouse, but it is important before it gets too late to seek help.
Smith has two choices–electric chair or lethal injections. He went with the cocktail of three drugs for his final moments. The execution methods are considerably more humane now but still a long way to go.
