NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Oscar Smith, a Tennessee inmate, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett.
Smith, 75, died after receiving a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. The 75-year-old had maintained his innocence and, in a lengthy series of final words, stated, “Somebody needs to tell the governor the justice system doesn’t work.” Witnesses also heard Smith state, “I didn’t kill her.”
During a recent interview with AP, he focused on how he felt the court system failed him.
He was found guilty of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, 13-year-old Jason Burnett, and 16-year-old Chad Burnett at their Nashville, Tennessee, home on October 1, 1989. In July 1990, Davidson County jurors sentenced him to death for the murders.
In 2022, a Davidson County Criminal Court judge denied reopening the case despite new evidence indicating the presence of an unknown person’s DNA on one of the murder weapons. The judge found Smith guilty based on overwhelming evidence, and DNA evidence did not help his case.
Two of Smith’s coworkers testified at the trial that he had asked them to kill Judith Smith, and he had a history of threats and violence against her and the boys. Smith had also taken out insurance policies for all three victims.
On the night of the murder, one of the child victims could be heard yelling what prosecutors described as “Frank, no!” in the background of a 911 call. Smith’s middle name is Frank, and he uses it frequently.
Judith Smith’s siblings, Mike Robirds and Terri Osborne, spoke with reporters following her execution. Osborne said they miss hearing their sister’s voice on the other end of the phone, discussing Chad’s driving lessons, and the “pure joy of hearing Jason’s laughter.”
She described the tragic deaths as a reminder of the devastating effects of domestic violence.
“We know it is an incredibly hard thing to do to leave a spouse who is abusing, but pray that this case becomes a call to action, encouraging those in danger to seek help before it’s too late,” Osborne advised.
Darlene Kimbrough, who knows Smith from her visits to another inmate on death row over the last decade, said she recently sent him a card. “‘I hope you know that you are loved,'” Kimbrough said. On Tuesday, she received an unexpected thank-you letter. She believes Smith was at peace with the idea of death, she said.
Tennessee executions have been halted for five years due to COVID-19 and the Tennessee Department of Corrections’ missteps.
Smith was on the verge of execution in 2022 when Republican Gov. Bill Lee granted him a surprise reprieve. It was later discovered that the lethal drugs that were to be used had not been thoroughly tested. A yearlong investigation uncovered numerous issues with Tennessee executions.
In December, the corrections department issued new execution guidelines. The new execution manual only includes a single page on lethal injection chemicals and lacks specific guidelines for drug testing.
It also eliminates the requirement that the drugs come from a licensed pharmacist. Amy Harwell, Smith’s attorney, has stated, “It’s as if, having been caught breaking their own rules, TDOC decided, ‘Let’s just not have rules.'”
Smith and other death row inmates have filed a lawsuit over the new protocols. A trial in that case is scheduled for next January.
