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May 1, 2024 29 mins

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Eric Smith was only 13 years old when he murdered a child. Smith, a red-headed, freckle-faced boy with thick glasses, was something of a loner and said he was often targeted by bullies. When he saw four-year-old Derrick Robie walking alone to a summer day camp at the park, in 1993, he became the bully.

Smith lured the happy, blonde headed boy neighbors nicknamed “the mayor” into the woods where he strangled him and dropped a large rock on his head, among other atrocities. 

Smith spent nearly thirty years in prison for the boy’s murder, but now at 44-years-old he is out on parole, despite pleas from Derrick’s family to keep him locked up for good. 

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Freckle Face Killer.”  

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