Gayno Smith

Gayno Gilbert Smith (January 23, 1938 – May 16, 2005) was an American mass murderer and serial killer who killed six of his family members in Iowa between 1961 and 1962.

Before the murders, Smith had been living in Denver, but due to problems there had come to Martinsburg, Iowa to live with his stepmother. When he had problems with her as well, he moved to the home of his uncle Andrew.

Murders On May 27, 1962, Smith murdered Andrew McBeth, 51, and Dora McBeth, 41,

The McBeth family lived in rural Iowa, about four miles north of Martinsburg, and Gayno Smith had been living with them at the time. Another daughter, Patsy Lou, 15, was wounded by Smith but escaped in the night and ran to a nearby farm for help. Kellogg's six-month-old baby, Perry, was in a crib and left unharmed. At the time, Iowa still had capital punishment, and prosecutors wanted Smith to be hanged. Facing an almost certain death sentence if the case went to trial, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of second degree murder and five counts of first degree murder, leaving his fate up to the judge.

Arguing for a death sentence, prosecutors said Smith had "attempted to exterminate an entire family." A psychiatric evaluation of Smith concluded that he was sane. His lawyers did not call any witnesses and did not contest that Smith was sane and the crimes were premeditated, choosing instead to plead with Judge C. R. Carson for mercy. Ultimately, Carson spared his life. After finding him guilty of five counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder, he instead sentenced Smith to six life terms at hard labor.

Infant Perry was adopted by his uncle Firman, Andrew McBeth's brother, and raised with Firman's own nine biological children.

Smith also spoke about making changes to the prison system. "I'd like to go to Des Moines and speak to the legislature," he said. "I'd like to talk to them about this institution itself, about some of their laws, and some of their rehabilitation programs. All prison systems are inhumane. You take a man from society who 'fails' when he's in an abnormal situation and put him in one of these places. It's an abnormal situation here in itself, then you say to the man, 'rehabilitate yourself'. YOU DON'T send a person on the street to a mental hospital and say, 'make yourself well'. There's nothing in here to change you. You can let prison society destroy you or you can get some education and change yourself."