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When a 4-year-old boy named Derrick Robie was found brutally murdered in Savona, New York in August 1993, residents were stunned. They assumed that a stranger driving through Savona must have killed young Derrick, as he was beloved in the town. Some locals had even called him the "unofficial mayor" because he loved to sit on his bike and wave at passersby. A manhunt quickly ensued, and authorities were shocked when they uncovered the true perpetrator: a 13-year-old boy named Eric Smith.
Marlene Heskell, a friend of Eric's family, had grown suspicious that the young teen had witnessed the murder when he started asking her about DNA testing and what would happen if Derrick's killer had been another child. Heskell went to Eric's mother with her concerns, and the two women took him to the police station to speak with investigators. They assumed that Eric had been threatened to keep quiet by whoever had murdered Derrick — but they never imagined that the teen would say, "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry. I killed that little boy."
Visit the link in our profile to learn more about Eric Smith, the "Freckle-Faced Killer" whose brutal crime shocked the nation.
After spending 27 years in prison for the savage and unprovoked murder of a toddler in upstate New York, a convicted killer was quietly released from prison following his 11th parole hearing.
In August 1993, Eric Smith was a bullied red-haired, freckle-faced 13-year-old when he lured four-year-old Derrick Robie into the woods in Savona, New York, where he strangled and bludgeoned him with rocks, and then sexually abused the body with a stick.
During his 11th parole board hearing last October, Smith, now 41, appeared before the Board of Parole and was finally granted release, after successfully arguing that he was a changed man who no longer posed a risk to society.
Smith also revealed that he was engaged to a woman who had written to him in prison, asking questions about the juvenile justice system because she was studying law. The two got to know each other and fell in love.
In the passed, Smith has expressed hope that he would be released and be free to pursue the 'American Dream.' 'I want to, you know, get married and raise a family, 'you know, hold down...a job,' he said more than a decade ago.
Derricks' parents opposed Smith's release each time he came before the parole board, which was every two years after he turned 21.
Although Smith was eligible to be freed as early as last November, his release was delayed until February because it took months to find housing.
Smith now lives in Queens, New York. His case is the subject of the latest installment of CBS' 48 Hours, which is scheduled to air Saturday night.
Doreen Robie, Derrick's mother, told the true-crime program that now that her son's killer is free, she is concerned for the safety of her loved ones. But she does not spend her days thinking about him.
'I don't let him take space in my head,' she said. 'I do not focus on where he is, what he's doing. … 'cause I don't care. As long as he's not near friends and family.'
She recalled that on August 2, 1993, she let her son, Derrick, walk alone for the first time to summer camp just a block away from their home in the Steuben County village of Savona.
'He gave me a kiss and I said, "I love you,"' Doreen recounted for 48 Hours. 'He says, "I love you, Mom." And he went hopping off the sidewalk.'
Blonde and cherub-faced, Derrick played T-ball and was popular in the community, known as 'the unofficial mayor of Savona.'
By contrast, Smith, nearly a decade older that Derrick, had been relentlessly bullied by other children, leaving him feeling angry.
When Smith spotted Derrick walking alone, he offered to show the boy a shortcut to camp. Instead, he lured the four-year-old into some woods, and killed him by strangling him and beating the child with rocks.
The parents reported Derrick missing a short time later. Within hours, police found the boy's body.
As cops hunted for the killer, a friend of Eric Smith's family, Marlene Heskell, told 48 Hours that she noticed the 13-year-old acting strangely. At one point, Heskell recalled that Smith asked her what would happen if the person responsible for the murder turned out to be a child.
'I said, "I think they seriously need some psychiatric help." And he [said], "Oh, OK," you know. And he walked away,' she said.
Heskell then called Smith's mother, and together they took him to the police. Investigator John Hibsch said the teen seemed to enjoy talking about Derrick's murder, but initially he denied having anything to do with it
As the interview continued, Smith made a confession in the presence of his mother.
"'I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry. I killed that little boy,"' his grandfather, who was there, recalled Smith saying.
In August 1994, Smith was tried as an adult, famously appearing in court in a Bugs Bunny sweatshirt. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Almost nine years after Derrick's murder, Smith appeared before the parole board for the first time, but his request for a release was denied.
Ten more hearings would follow. Each time, Doreen and Dale Robie begged the members of the panel to keep his killer behind bars.
During his 2004 parole hearing, Smith, who claimed to have been a victim of bullying, admitted that he felt good strangling Derrick 'because -- instead of me being hurt, I was hurting somebody else.'
He also said that had he not been arrested in 1993, he probably would have gone on to kill again.
In an interview with WENY-TV in 2009, Smith said of the murder: 'My anger wasn't directed at Derrick at all. It was directed at … all the other guys that used to pick on me. And when I was torturing and killing Derrick … that was what I saw in my head.'
Smith apologized to the Robies and said that if he could switch places with Derrick 'and take the grave for him to live, I'd do it in a second…'
The convicted murderer said that after years of therapy, he was a changed man, not the 'murderer' and 'Satan incarnate' that he has been made out to be.
'I'm not a threat,' Smith told the board. 'The 13-year-old kid that took [Derrick's] life… is not the man sitting in front of you talking … if you were to give me the chance, I would not only prove that I'm not a threat. I would definitely be an asset to society.'
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