John Smith, a seemingly ordinary man with a common name, led a double life filled with murder, mystery, and deception.
NBC Dateline will delve into the chilling murders committed by John Smith in their upcoming special, Chameleon, set to air on Friday, April 26, 2024, and streaming the next day on Peacock and Hulu.
John David Smith III, born on April 2, 1951, was anything but an average American. His dark secrets began to unravel when his first wife, Janice Hartman, mysteriously disappeared in 1974 after expressing her intention to divorce Smith due to an abusive relationship. Shockingly, it was discovered years later that Smith had hidden Hartman’s dismembered body in a narrow box, which was eventually found by his grandfather.
Despite the gruesome discovery, Smith managed to evade suspicion and moved to Florida, where he married his second wife, Betty Fran Gladden-Smith. In 1991, Gladden-Smith vanished under suspicious circumstances, with Smith fabricating stories about her whereabouts. Eventually, it was revealed that Smith had murdered her and disposed of her body in an industrial dumpster.
Smith’s crimes caught up with him in 2001 when he was convicted of Hartman’s murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. In a surprising turn of events, Smith confessed to killing Gladden-Smith in 2019, leading to an indictment for her murder. However, the court ultimately dismissed the case due to the lack of concrete evidence linking Smith to the crime.
Currently serving time in an Ohio prison, John Smith’s dark past continues to haunt him as he awaits parole eligibility in 2029 at the age of 78. Despite his heinous acts, some of Smith’s victims, including Gladden-Smith, have yet to see justice served.
The twisted tale of John Smith serves as a chilling reminder that evil often lurks beneath a seemingly innocuous facade. Tune in to NBC Dateline’s Chameleon to uncover the sinister truth behind the life of this cold-blooded killer.
