World Prisons
All persons

Lemuel Smith

1941

Nationality
United States
Occupation
serial killer

Lemuel Warren Smith (born July 23, 1941) is an American convicted serial killer who was the first convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer.

Incarceration history

Biography

Lemuel Warren Smith (born July 23, 1941) is an American convicted serial killer who was the first convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer. Smith was already in prison for the murders of at least five people when he murdered prison guard Donna Payant at Green Haven Correctional Facility in 1981. The murder of a guard in a maximum security prison was considered shocking at the time and brought scrutiny upon the New York prison systems. Smith is considered one of the most dangerous living inmates in the New York prison system and is housed in 23-hour-a-day isolation from other people. Smith has admitted his guilt in all of his cases, with the sole exception of Donna Payant's murder. He maintains that he was framed in this case and that fellow prison guards murdered her to prevent her from revealing corruption in the prison system.

Related people

Same nationality and era where possible; falls back to shared nationality or era.

  • Billy Ray Waldon
    Billy Ray Waldon
    1952United States
  • Richard Rogers
    Richard Rogers
    1950United States

    Richard Westall Rogers l0Jr.

  • Kelsey Grammer
    Kelsey Grammer
    1955United States

    Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor.

  • Alan Gross
    Alan Gross
    1949United States
  • Reiko Sato
    Reiko Sato
    1931–1981United States

    Reiko Sato (Japanese: 佐藤 怜子; December 19, 1931 – May 28, 1981) was an American dancer and actress.

  • Mary Mon Toy
    1916–2009United States

    Mary Mon Toy (June 3, 1916 – December 7, 2009) was a Japanese American actor, showgirl, and secretary.