Longest-serving US prisoner, who was spared execution eight times, dies at 101

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Francis Clifford Smith was convicted of murder in 1950 aged 25, and has been served his last meal eight different times.

In 1949, Smith was accused of the murder of Grover Hart, a night watchman at the Connecticut Yacht Club.

He was arrested alongside another man, who took a plea deal and gave evidence against Smith, who was later found guilty of first-degree murder.

Despite being a young, petty criminal at the time of his arrest, Smith has always maintained his innocence on the charge of murder.

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This claim was later supported by one of the officers who questioned Smith, Major Leo Carroll, who told the Board of Pardons: “I'm not even sure he was present at the murder,” according to the Boston Globe.

This secured Smith a reprieve from many scheduled executions, and in 1954, his sentence was changed to life in prison.

Smith spent over 70 years in prison, aside from three brief windows of freedom.

In 1967, he escaped from behind bars, but was found 12 days later.

In 1974, he returned home for Christmas Eve and came back the following day, according to the BBC.

In 1975, he was given parole and enjoyed his freedom for around 10 months.

But this was short-lived as he was then arrested for petty larceny and possession of a weapon - a violation of his parole, the Boston Globe reported.

After several attempts to go back on parole, in 2020 he was given supervised parole and transferred to a care home for the elderly within the justice system.

He lived there until he died of natural causes in June and has since been cremated, the BBC reported.