Edgar Herbert Smith Jr. (February 8, 1934 – March 20, 2017) was an American convicted murderer, who was once on death row for the 1957 murder of fifteen-year-old honor student and cheerleader Victoria Ann Zielinski in Ramsey, New Jersey. Vigorously contesting his conviction through the courts and in the media, Smith became a celebrity, and his case was argued in public most notably by conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. Smith eventually succeeded in winning a retrial and took a plea deal for a reduced sentence, ultimately being released in 1971. Five years later, Smith kidnapped and tried to kill another woman, Lefteriya "Lisa" Ozbun, in San Diego, California. Ozbun survived being stabbed by Smith and testified against him in court. Smith was subsequently sentenced to life in p