Janet Smith, a breeder of Chihuahua dogs, died at the age of 71 in
2013. By the time she was criminally charged in 2003 she had seven husbands and
two fiancés. She was suspected of murdering one fiancé, Charles Miller (66), and
also husband, Randy Smith (47), she had insured for $230,000. Randy Smith’s son
and daughter filed a lawsuit to block Janet from collecting the proceeds, asserting
that their father had been murdered by his one of Smith’s ex-husbands, Griffin,
under the supervision of Janet.
~ Charles Miller ~
[Janet] testified that two months after Randy’s drowning,
she accepted engagement rings from two Pinellas men. One was Barry Reitz, 64,
who took out life insurance naming her as beneficiary. The other was Charlie
Miller Miller, 66, who was found dead in his house by Charlie Griffin. Miller
had heart troubles, and his doctor ruled it a natural death without examining
the body. Janet denied having any insurance on Miller, though FDLE [Florida
Department of Law Enforcement] agent Pfeil notes that there’s no central
registry that can track insurance policies. “I don’t know how many more she
might have had on Randy or anyone else, I have no clue. “I thought it smelled
to high heaven,” says Circuit Judge George Greer, who ruled for Janet in the
civil case. “There was truly a lot of suspicious stuff going on. But there was
no proof.” [Source: Aug. 3, 2003]
~ Randy Smith ~
“In May 1990, a few weeks after she divorced Griffen [sic] in
another county, Janet made Smith husband No. 7. Within two months, Smith took
out more than $100,000 in life insurance, naming his bride as beneficiary. He
also made out a will, giving her everything he owned. In October 1990, less
than a year after the couple met, Smith went fishing on the Suwannee River with
Cecil Griffen, the handyman, even though Smith hated the water and couldn't
swim, the children say. The two men had a fight, and Smith drowned. He was 47.”
[Source: Oct 1, 2005]
Janet Smith's daughter, Julie Butikoper of Idaho Falls
testified that she made contact with her mother in 1996, for the first time in
20 years, when she mistakenly heard that Smith was on death row in Florida for
killing her husband. Though she hadn't lived with her mother since she was 8,
Butikoper said, she came to Florida to reconcile. That went sour when her
mother took her to river property she owned in Dixie County and described the
drowning. "She said that Randy was stupid, and he didn't know that Cecil
was her husband," Butikoper said. "He just thought of him as the
handyman. She would laugh about it." At the river property, Janet Smith
provoked a fight with her husband so Griffen and Randall Smith would go fishing
at night by themselves, off a home-made raft in the middle of the river,
Butikoper testified. When the two men argued, "Cecil pushed Randy
overboard," Butikoper said. Her mother said she snuck down to the river to
watch, "to make sure the job was done right." [Source: Oct 1, 2005]
~ Cecil “Jay” Griffin ~
[In 2002] Smith’s son [Matthew Paxton] secretly taped
conversations in which he and his mother talked about killing an ex-husband in
Arkansas [Griffin] for more insurance money. Police arrested her and charged
her with solicitation of murder. . . . In the tapes, “Janet and her son discuss
various options. They first talk of having Paxton drive Jay off a cliff in
Janet’s car. “That would get the car paid off. That would get me a new car,”
Janet says on the tape. “I’d get the
insurance money and get me the f--- out of here.”
They discuss shooting Jay in the head, then telling police
it was suicide. . . . The final plan,
Paxton said, was to ask Jay to pull a tarp over the swimming pool [of the “mansion”
Janet bough with insurance proceeds]. Paxton would push Jay in, throw the tarp
over him and jump on top so he couldn’t get out. “You got to get him while the
pushing’s good,” Janet says on tape. Melani Barnes, a friend who traveled with
Paxton to Arkansas, told deputies she heard Janet discussing these murder plans
as well. [Source: Sep. 19, 2003]
~ Barry Reitz ~
Soon after the 1990 drowning of Randy Smith, Janet became
engaged to Barry Reitz.
Barry Reitz took out insurance years ago that pays Janet
Smith $100,000 if he dies accidentally. They were dating at the time, but he grew
cared and moved to Pennsylvania for a time to hide. Reitz, of Largo [Fl.], can’t
cancel the policy, because Smith still pays the premiums. [Source: Aug. 3,
2003]
~ Outcome ~
Janet was never prosecuted. None of the lawsuits against her
succeeded. Her insurance income was eaten up by legal expenses and she ended up
living on social security benefits. She died in Hollister, Missouri, in 2013.
***
SOURCES
[William Yelverton, “Years later, drowning a mystery,” The Tampa
Tribune, Jul. 22, 1996, p. 1]
[Stephen Nohlren, “Six and Seven,” St. Petersburg Times
(Fl.), Aug. 3, 2003, P. 1]
[Stephen Nohlren, Officials drop
charges in alleged murder plot,” St. Petersburg Times (Fl.), Sep. 19, 2003, P.
1]
[Stephen Nohlren, “Stepmother had man killed for insurance,
suit claims,” Tampa Bay Times (Fl.), Oct. 1, 2005]
***
Suspected Victims & Intended Victims
- Charles Miller (66), fiancé; died, no autopsy. Engaged
Jan. 1991. Florida.
- Barry Reitz, fiancé, Largo, Florida. Intended Victim? Double
indemnity, $100,000 life insurance, $104 monthly premiums paid by Janet.
Engaged Jan. 1991.
- Randy Smith (47), husband #7; died Oct. 14, 1990; drowned;
Largo, Florida; $250,000 life insurance paid. His applications signatures were
determined to have been forged.
- Cecil “Jay” Griffin (Griffen),
Husband #5 (#6?), divorced May 1990. Janet Smith charged with plotting with her
son [Matthew Paxton, father was husband #2] to kill him. Mountain Home,
Arkansas.
***
CHRONOLOGY
April 13, 1942 – Janet born, Ohio.
Dec. 1982 – Janet marries Griffin (Griffen), Grand Ridge.
May 2, 1990 – Janet divorces Griffin (Greffen).
May 19, 1990 – Janet marries Randy Smith (47).
Oct. 14, 1990 – Randy Smith, husband #7; died Drowned. $230,000
life insurance paid.
Nov. 2, 1990 – civil injunction filed by Randall Smith Jr
& Kathryn Smith.
Ca. 1990-91 – Janet Smith’s house burns; receives $80,000
insurance payment; moves to Ohio with Jay[?]
Jan. 1991 – Barry Reitz (64), fiancé,
life insurance policy taken out.
Jan. 1991 – Charlie Miller (66), fiancé, dies.
2002 – Janet and Jay squabble; Jay moves to as motel.
2003 – Janet Smith arrested and
charged in plotting to murder Cecil “Jay” Griffin (Griffen). Arkansas.
Sep. 2003 – Charges dropped, Janet Smith (61)
August 3, 2013 – Janet A. Smith (71), Hollister, MO, dies.
Janet’s Residences: Florida, Ohio, Arkansas
***
Obituary: Janet Smith, 71, of Hollister, MO, formerly of
Mountain Home, AR, April 13, 1942 - August 3, 2013. Janet A. Smith, age 71, of
Hollister, passed away in her home Saturday, August 3, 2013. She was born April
13, 1942 in Ohio.
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MORE: Female Serial Killers & Arson
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For links to other cases of woman who murdered 2 or more husbands (or paramours), see Black Widow Serial Killers.
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MORE: Female Serial Killers & Arson
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[170-1/8/21]
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This is my grandmother! I would love to speak with you!
ReplyDeleteThis is my grandmother, I would love to speak with you!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know more about her
DeletePlease contact me I could tell you more. So much more about her . Heaven is my daughter I knew Janet she is my ex mother in law I was once almost a victim of her myself. She was not a good person at all .
ReplyDeleteI would like to know more about her and what she did that you were almost a victim of hers.
ReplyDelete