Fox News was debating the Pam Smart/Billy Flynn drama yesterday.  It seems that Billy - who now goes by William, by the way - pulled a 'Hillary' in front of a judge the other day.  Only his tears before the judge didn't win him the New Hampshire Primary - or a release from prison.

You remember the trial, right?

Sixteen year old Billy Flynn took the stand as part of a plea deal and testifed against his lover, Pam Smart.  Pam was the wife of Greg Smart, the man Flynn murdered with a shot to the back of the head.  Flynn met Pam at Winnacunnett High School, where she worked as a media coordinator.  She seduced the teenager and eventually asked him to kill her husband.  

I remember watching the trial on television.  The media vultures descended on New Hampshire like someone was running for President.  Pam Smart was a memorable figure but so was William Smart, Greg's father.  He was the parent who lost a son to murder and was determined to see justice served and I felt for him. 

It was his words that caught my attention last week.  He accepted an apology from the man who murdered his son.  But he didn't offer forgiveness.  It's clear that Mr. Smart is not well.  And I wish I could breathe forgiveness into him.  It is not my place to disagree with him in his desire to see his son's murderer serve his full sentence.  After all, that is why they were in court last week.  Billy wants out.  But I think this is a lose-lose situation.  No matter what happens, there are no winners. 

You see, I feel that Pam Smart - who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole - is the real killer here.  She may not have pulled the trigger, but she might as well have.  And by playing the games she played, she destroyed more than one life, including the life of Greg's father. 

Do I think Billy Flynn should be released from prison right now?  I don't know that there is a good answer to that question.  But I do feel that he was just a kid that did a stupid thing.  If that stupid thing didn't result in the loss of someone's life, then perhaps we wouldn't be here talking about it.  But, he killed a man.  Reformed or not, there is a price to pay when you kill someone.  And whether you're 16 or 60 you should know that you can't take that back, even if you want to.