opera. >> unfortunately it was my life and wasn't a soap opera for me. >> it was tv's first blockbuster trial. scandalous and sensational. >> her sexuality was the star of the pam smart show. >> the explosion of flashbulbs. it's body heat, it's fatal attraction. >> pamela smart accused of bewitching a teenage student into murdering her husband. >> i pulled the trigger. another look at the frenzy. >> it was just crazy. >> the trial. >> i made a mistake. >> was killing your husband one of those mistakes? >> no. >> it's not at all who she was or is. >> the case some say changed the way americans witnessed justice. >> i don't know enough will ever be enough for anyone in this case. pamela smart liv. the beautiful, young widow stepped hello and welcome to dateline. you've heard about it. pamela part lived it. the beautiful young widow from her small town into america's most gripping trial. a very real drama that inspired a hollywood hit movie. now you're about to hear the chilling story from the woman at the center of it all. here is deadly secret. >> you were the biggest show in town? >> it was. at the time. >> i mean this story, people couldn't get enough of it. >> nope. >> when i look back at the footage, i looked like a baby and so young and so afraid. >> before the menendez brothers or even o.j., pamela smart was television's first true crime celebrity. >> it's like i'm frozen forever and my worst mistake. the story begins in the old milltown of dairy, new hampshire. 22-year-old pamela smart had come home late from work to find her 24-year-old husband, gregg, sprawled out on the floor of their home. >> it's six days before your first anniversary. take us to that night. what happened when you walked in the door? >> i saw gregg on the ground in front of the entrance. i called for him and he didn't respond. >> did you try to shake him? >> no. >> you're just calling his name? >> i called his name and i just ran that fast. >> did you go to the neighbor, and what does the neighbor do? call 911? >> i don't even remember after that. >> yes, um, emergency in 4e. summer hill condominium. >> what's going on there? >> there is someone passed out, i don't know, a girl is hysterical in here. she just ran over and her husband is passed out in 4e. >> reporter: daniel pelletier was the lead detective in the case. >> i found mrs. smart outside yelling, screaming that her husband had been hurt. >> it wasn't until way after the police were there, his parents were there, all of that. his father said why aren't you helping my son? and the police officer said because he's dead. >> what's that moment like? >> his father hit the floor, i hit the floor, his mother passed out. it was just, it was crazy. >> we determined through the medical examiner it was a gunshot wound. it was actually at the top left of his skull, entered through there. >> when i got to her parent's house, we both sobbed. >> reporter: sonya thornton- simon was a friend of gregg and pamela smart's. >> she was in a fetal position crying. trying to figure out who could have done this. >> the way things were set up and the amount of things that were disturbed. the stereo had been removed from the stereo rack and pulled out. there were speakers pulled up. there were jewelry boxes overturned. >> it looked like a burglary gone bad. that's kind of what we were seeing and hearing. the police weren't saying anything. >> reporter: the reporter for the new hampshire union leader. >> we heard at one point that they were looking for someone who might have traded in some jewelry. we picked it up on the police scanner. >> reporter: but the burglary gone bad theory had some problems. >> that didn't really make a lot of sense because the time of day in a neighborhood like that. there were a lot of residents there. >> it was looking like an execution. maybe there was more to the story. >> and police always look at the spouse? they just have to talk to them. did they interview you? >> they did. i spent hours with the police. i spent hours at the police station and the days after that. >> did you feel like you were a suspect? >> not at all. >> did you feel they were suspicious of you? >> not at all. >> reporter: gregg smart's short life was over. now as police tried to find out who killed him. life for his young widow is about to enter a strange new reality. what happened next would raise questions about justice and fairness that are still being asked today. who would want gregg smart dead? a bone chilling rumor provides a crucial clue. coming up. students with a deadly secret about to be revealed. >> if they hadn't told people, i'm not sure how this would have turned out. >> reporter: and one of those students had an intimate connection to pam smart. >> somebody came and told me he had a crush on me or something. i thought it was cute, but i wasn't interested. >> you're the grown up here. >> that's right. i sure was. >> when dateline continues. crc by dermatologists and allergists, that helps heal your child's skin from within. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your child's eczema specialist about dupixent. 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[♪♪] fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. i think it's a great pandrea canning: a well-liked, young man had been gunned down at home in a quiet new england town. bill spencer, who went on to report for nbc affiliate a well ton,liked young man been gunned down at home in a quiet new england town. bill spencer went on to report for kprc in houston was just starting out in new hampshire when he picked up the story of who killed gregg smart. >> he was a successful life insurance salesman with a beautiful young wife. and for some reason, he has been shot to death at the doorstep of his own home. why? >> police were asking the same question and trying to learn more about greg. >> gregg was the life of the party. he was always smiling, having all the jokes. >> reporter: police learned gregg met pamela in new hampshire about four years earlier when she was home for a holiday break from college. she and gregg got along so well that he moved with her to tallahassee, where pamela was a sophomore in communications at florida state. >> we used to go a lot to the beach and travel. we went to concerts a lot. i was working as a disc jockey at the time. >> she had been in a couple of my classes, and she was walking and had a bon jovi t-shirt on. >> reporter: that is when amy newman met pamela and greg. >> what did you say to her? >> do you like bon jovi? she's like i love bon jovi. my boyfriend looks like bon jovi. >> gregg wasn't taking classes. >> and she would have index cards. she would have everything prepared. she taught me how to study. >> how was pamela around gregg? what did he bring out of her? >> even though he was shy, they were just very sweet and kind of cozy. >> by the time graduation rolled around, pamela and gregg were engaged. they went home to new hampshire, got married. gregg cut his hair and got a job with his dad selling insurance. pamela, who dreamed of being a tv reporter, got a media job with a local school district. >> you kind of had it all together at 20, 21 years old? >> yeah, i was trying. i thought i was doing all right. >> amy imagined a big future for pamela. >> i knew that she was going to do great things. and i told her that the next time i saw her, i knew she was going to be famous, and i would see her on tv. >> and in fact a few days after the murder, pamela smart was on tv being interviewed by reporter bill spencer. >> she was wearing a beautiful vibrant blue dress. hair was all made up. makeup was perfect. she looked gorgeous. >> police watched pamela on television with unease. >> we had limited the information that was going to pamela smart because she had the chance to talk to media and she enjoyed talking to the media. >> and then came a break. it happened at a high school where pamela worked. kids there were spreading a wild story. >> if they hadn't told people, i'm not sure how this would have turned out because i don't think police had that much. >> some teenage boys at the school were telling people they killed gregg smart. a neighborhood kid heard them talking. he repeated the story to the father who located his gun and then made a tough decision. >> ended up bringing it to the dairy police department saying this may have been involved in a murder. turned out it was the gun that killed gregg. >> shortly after that, three local high schoolers were arrested for gregg's murder. bill spencer made a b-line for pamela smart's house. >> she looks frantic and incredibly emotional. i'm like but this is great news. they just made an arrest. the case is wrapping up. she's like no, i can't talk, bill. i'm just too upset. i'm too devastated. >> it was the first time he had seen her like that. it didn't make sense. but turns out pamela smart knew the kids under arrest. she had an intimate connection with one of them. his name was billy flynn. >> at first someone came and told me he had a crush on me or something. i thought it was cute, but i wasn't interested. >> you're the grown up here. >> i sure was. >> you're working for the schools. >> i'm not even thinking about him in any romantic whatsoever. she was helping students produce this commercial as part of a competition. there's pamela on the left and that's billy. where did it go from there? >> i didn't think it was going anywhere because i wasn't interested and i didn't care. i was flattered by his attention because i felt at that point in my life kind of low still after what had happened with gregg. >> she says gregg had a one night stand with a woman he met at a bar. pamela says she was feeling wounded and billy made her feel better. apparently much better. >> how did things cross the line? how did it get to that point? >> i knew it was wrong. i felt like i didn't want to be attracted to him. but i still felt like i was. >> she said the affair lasted a few months. but then she told billy it was over after confessing it all to gregg. >> you were going to try to make it work? >> yes. >> how is billy flynn acting through all of this? >> he was angry. he was sad. he was crying. you know, i did feel bad. i didn't intend to hurt his feelings. >> not long after that her husband was dead. the teenage student she had been sleeping with was under arrest. >> it was complete shock. when i first heard it, i thought oh my god, they found out about the affair. and now i'm somehow a part of this one way or another because i had this relationship with him. >> the kids under arrest may have been young, but they were also tough. they weren't talking. but police were tougher and figured that getting the teens to talk was just a matter of time. coming up. >> it's body heat, it's fatal attraction. it's what pours millions into theater every weekend. and it is right here in new hampshire. >> the drama builds as the student who shares pam smart's secret does talk. >> what was his version of events to you? >> pam had said to him that they could never be together unless gregg was killed. >> i didn't realize the scope of this thing until the sex part came up. >> when dateline continues. bounce back fast from heartburn with new tums gummy bites, and love food back. 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[ bird squawks loudly ] to a pet shop. meg's moving company uses t-mobile. so she scaled down her fleet to save money. and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. andrea canning: in the days after the murder, pamela smart spent a lot of time with police, talking about her life with gregg in the days after the murder, pamela smart spent a lot of time with police. but she had left out one important detail. >> if you're being interviewed for hours though, one might think it is relevant to say i was having an affair. >> looking backwards, i should have said that, but i did not think i knew someone who was capable of murder. >> reporter: even after billy flynn and two of his friends were arrested, she still didn't say anything about the affair. >> it was bad enough that my husband was dead and then i had gregg's parents calling me saying how come these people you know killed my son? >> the teenagers kept silent for months. and the prosecution tried to press them as adults. >> that's when they were facing life without parole, and the idea of cooperating became all the more relevant to them. >> reporter: that's when they admitted they killed gregg smart. but there was more to it. billy said pamela was involved. in fact the teens said she was the mastermind. >> what was his version of events to you? >> that basically pam said to them they could never be together unless gregg is killed. >> billy had become spell bound by the more experienced pamela smart. he would do anything for her, even kill. >> the origin fall plan is for him to try to find someone to kill gregg smart, and they really couldn't find anybody to kill him. so eventually she starts putting pressure on him and this is how you can do it. >> billy tried and failed a few times to kill gregg and then asked his friends for help. >> for the life of me i'm not sure why they agreed to help him in part because pam says to them you can have whatever you want out of the apartment. and billy tells them she'll give you $1,000 each, which pam renigs on. >> they said pamela told them when gregg would be home and made arrangements to be gone. they ransacked the house. billy shot gregg and they all fled. exactly three months after the killing, police had what they needed. they drove to pamela's workplace. >> she said hello and i said hello and she said what's up? the good news is we solved the murder of your husband. the bad news is you're arrested for murder. >> and she is being led by the police and she looks to me, powerful and so helpless, vulnerable. >> reporter: the news warped from the story of a tragic widow to the story of a black widow. she was 22 and she was 16. >> up until then it was a murder case with a lot of interesting parts to it, but i did not realize this until tay came out between billy flynn and pamela smart and all the manipulation. >> people would look back and picked her apart. was she enjoying the attention? >> this is a real live soap opera. and then the news director. >> it's body heat and what pours millions into the theater every weekend. >> the tabloids loved it, especially when these pictures surfaced, posing in a bikini. she gave those photos to billy flynn, the story went, supposedly all part of her seduction. the story moved like wildfire around the country. >> i went into the gas station and saw star magazine. and there is their wedding picture. it called her the ice princess and that she murdered gregg. i couldn't believe it and bawled my eyes out. there is no way this was her. >> when the media was talking about pam, i couldn't recognize who they were talking about because it's not the person that i know. >> the families and friends of pamela and gregg smart were about to face a media on slot. and pamela was about to become a part of a new kind of television phenomenon. coming up, >> she told me she was going to do things. >> what did that mean to you? >> like provocative, but i guess strip teased me. >> red hot testimony. >> we had sex. >> cold-blooded murder. >> i said god forgive me. >> you said god forgive me? what happened? i pulled the trigger. >> when dateline continues. with the freestyle libre 3 system know your glucose and where it's heading no fingersticks needed. now the world's smallest and thinnest sensor sends your glucose levels directly to your smartphone. manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. the #1 cgm prescribed in the u.s. try it for free at freestylelibre.us [♪♪] looking for a moisturizer that does more than just moisturize? try olay regenerist for 10 benefits in every jar. olay visibly firms, lifts, and smooths wrinkles, by penetrating the skin, to boost regeneration at the surface cellular level. try olay. if you spit blood when you brush, it could be the start of a domino effect. new parodontax active gum repair breath freshener. clinically proven to help reverse the four signs of early gum disease. a new toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts. hi, i'm jessica layton with a look at what's happening. an aid to benjamin netanyahu said sunday the country is not rejecting the cease-fire framework for the war in gaza laid out by president biden. this despite speaking out against a proposal calling it a non-starter. we are awaiting the results of mexico's presidential elections after polls close sunday night. the country expected to elect its firs