Randall Lee Smith
Randall Lee Smith (June 29, 1953 – May 10, 2008) was a convicted murderer from Pearisburg, Virginia. He pleaded guilty shortly before trial commenced to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of hikers Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, both 27-year-old social workers from Maine who were murdered by Smith while hiking the Appalachian Trail in May 1981. He was sentenced to two concurrent 15 year terms, in a plea bargain negotiated by prosecutor Hezekiah Osborne, and released in 1996 on mandatory parole after serving 15 years. Smith's sentence and his early release were both met with anger by the victims' families as well as the hiking community. Hikers protested outside the courtroom the day after his sentencing, and a spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conference said Smith is the "first person convicted of murdering a hiker who has had the opportunity to leave prison". His probation ended in 2006. On May 6, 2008, Smith attempted to kill Scott Johnston, 38, and Sean Farmer, 33, on a fishing trip near Dismal Creek, less than two miles from the site of the 1981 murders. He was befriended by the two men, who shared their dinner with Smith, before