A Moment In Crime: Phillip John Smith the murderer, the great escape and the international manhunt Last Minute Instant News

Alan Hall was convicted of murder in 1986 and spent 19 years in prison for the crime. When Phillip John Smith left a Waikato prison on approved temporary leave in 2014 no one suspected that within days he would be leading authorities on an international man hunt. Detectives also investigated the death of a woman who had been a colleague of Smith at the Rainbow. Patricia Lynott, a divorced mother of two from Ireland who had moved to Birmingham, had been found dead in her flat in October 2000. Police had not treated the death as suspicious, but after they discovered her connection to Smith, her body was exhumed for a second post mortem.

Each month she'll take you inside some of our most infamous incidents, notorious offenders and behind the scenes of high profile trials and events to show you what’s really happening in your backyard. Mr. Smith, who lived in Manhattan, was vice chairman of the Actors Fund and a trustee of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In 2011, he received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement. In 2015, he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and named Phillip John Smith by the New York Landmarks Conservancy as a Living Landmark. A second marriage, in 1999, to Tricia Walsh, ended in divorce in 2008. In addition to his daughters, from his first marriage, he is survived by five grandchildren and a brother, Joseph. Named Shubert’s executive vice president in 1979, Mr. Smith became the architect of the organization’s computerized ticketing and seating system, which was made available to all Broadway theaters.

Smith's family lived in Midland Road, where they were neighbours of serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, before moving to Hailes Road on the Coney Hill Estate in 1971. The family had a modest income, and their situation became worse when Smith's father was injured in a motoring accident. Smith attended Coney Hill Infants and Junior School and later went to a special school for children with learning difficulties.

The convicted murderer appeared before Judge Eaton via video link from prison, dressed in a full suit and tie, his infamous toupee and a watch. He previously took the agency to court for refusing to allow him to wear a hairpiece in prison and not allowing family members to visit him in prison. Alternatively contact your local police station – click here for a list. Police also conducted a routine re-examination of other unsolved murder cases dating back 20 years in areas where Smith had lived. Officers from West Midlands Police held a conference in October 2001 with representatives from several other forces, including West Mercia and Gloucestershire, to share information about unsolved murder cases in their areas.

This proved to be inconclusive, and in January 2003 a coroner's jury in Birmingham recorded an open verdict after hearing that the cause of her death could not be determined. Faith, family, friends, fruitfulness, fellowship these have been the hallmarks of Phil’s life well lived. Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.

DeviantArt is the world's largest online social community for artists and art enthusiasts, allowing people to connect through the creation and sharing of art. We would like to offer our sincere support to anyone coping with grief. A police search of his cell turned up a “blacklist” of names from the 13-year-old’s family. A condition of his bail was that he not contact the 13-year-old boy or try to locate the family. He was granted bail after appealing to the High Court, despite having 20 previous convictions, including attempting to pervert the course of justice by intimidating witnesses in a previous case by threatening them with firebombs.