Lois Nadean Smith Execution | Crime, Last Meal + Final Words | Death Row US

After spending 19 years on death row, Lois Nadine Smith, also known as Mean Nadine, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma. But to understand how a 42year-old woman ended up there, we have to go back to the 4th of July in 1982. Early that morning, 20-year-old Cynthia Lucille Bailey, also known as Cindy, was staying in a motel in Taloqua, Oklahoma.

She got a call from her ex-boyfriend, James Gregory Smith, and he told her that he wanted to meet. According to him, there had been misunderstandings, things they needed to clear up. Cindy agreed, thinking it was just going to be a conversation. But when the car pulled up, James wasn’t alone.

 His mother, Lois Naen Smith, was behind the wheel, and a woman named Teresa Baker, sat in the back. At first, nothing seemed too strange, but as they drove, the tone in the car changed fast. Small talk turned into sideways questions, then accusations. Then Nadine turned in her seat, her voice rising with each word and said something that caught Cindy offg guard.

She claimed Cindy had tried to have Greg killed. Cindy denied it, confused, then scared. She told her it wasn’t true over and over. But Nadine wasn’t interested in denial. And the more Cindy spoke, the angrier she became. And then it exploded. Without warning, she turned back around, lunged forward, and wrapped her hands around Cindy’s throat.

 Cindy fought to breathe, gasping and struggling. But Nadine wasn’t done. She was just getting started. She grabbed a knife out of Cindy’s own purse and drove it into her neck. Blood poured as the car kept going, and no one else moved or stopped her. And instead of calling for help or even slowing down, they just kept driving.

 A short while later, the car rolled into Gans, Oklahoma, and pulled up outside a trailer that belonged to Nadine’s ex-husband, Jim Smith, Greg’s father. Jim was home with his new wife, Robin. But as soon as Robin sensed something was wrong, she stepped outside and left. She didn’t want to be part of whatever was about to happen.

Inside the trailer, the mood turned colder. Nadine forced Cindy into a recliner, waving a pistol like the whole thing was some twisted performance. She paced in front of her, barking threats and feeding off the fear. Then she pulled the trigger. The first missed, slamming into the chair near Cindy’s head.

 A warning maybe, but what came next wasn’t. Nadine fired over and over, hitting Cindy in the head and the chest five times. Cindy immediately dropped to the floor, bleeding and clinging to life. But that didn’t stop them. While she lay there, Greg reloaded the gun while Nadine jumped on Cindy’s neck, stomping her down with both feet as if the bullets hadn’t done enough.

And the worst part, she was laughing while doing it. Then, when the gun was ready again, she grabbed it back from Greg and fired four more shots straight into Cindy’s head and back. No hesitation. No mercy. Afterward, they dragged her into the bedroom and placed the gun in her hand, trying to make it look like a suicide.

Then they got in the car and left her there, bleeding out on the cold, dirty floor like she was nothing. But how did it get this far? How did a devoted mother become capable of something so brutal? Lois Nadine Dodd was born in 1940 in northeastern Oklahoma to a family that didn’t believe in soft landings.

 The full details of her childhood are hazy. But locals remembered one thing. She was mean. Mean enough to earn a nickname by her teenage years. Mean Nadine. And it wasn’t just a joke. It was a warning. And that name would follow her like a shadow. She married young to a man named Jim Smith and eventually became the mother of a boy who would grow up to be the center of her universe.

 James Gregory Smith. Greg was her only child and she would do anything for him. And while most mothers are protective, Nadine took it further. By the time she was in her mid-4s, she was drinking hard, talking louder than everyone else, and keeping an iron grip on anything that threatened her boy.

 In Salisaw, no one challenged her. Not if they wanted peace. But when the rumors started, whispers that Greg was caught up in stolen guns and drug deals, Naen didn’t brush it off. Greg was just 19 at the time, angry, reckless, and kneedeep in a mess he couldn’t climb out of. And tied to him was a young woman named Cindy Bailey.

 She was just 20 years old, but already worn down by addiction, motel hopping, and raising a child alone. She and Greg had spiraled together fast, and when it ended, it ended ugly. By the time they broke up, leaving her son heartbroken, Nadine had already made up her mind. She hated Cindy. And when someone whispered that Cindy wanted Greg dead, that was all she needed.

 There was no evidence, just street talk. But for Nadine, that was all it took. She didn’t question it, didn’t wait. That rumor became her truth. And that truth demanded action. And she didn’t keep it to herself either. She told people, bragged, even said Cindy needed to be put in her place.

 Said someone ought to teach her a lesson. It stopped being just anger and started sounding like a plan. And still, no one stepped in. No one warned Cindy. No one thought Nadine would go through with it, but she did. By the time Cindy climbed into that car on July 4th, it was already done. The target was locked and the decision was made. On July 5th, Cindy’s body was found inside the trailer of Nadine’s ex-husband.

 Neighbors had heard the gunshots, but had waited. It wasn’t until later that someone finally called the police, and when investigators arrived, the pieces fell into place. fast. Multiple witnesses remembered Cindy leaving the motel with Nadine, Greg, and another woman, and some even described the car. A man in Jim’s neighborhood told officers he saw that same car parked outside the trailer on the fourth.

 And another neighbor said they had heard a woman screaming. Investigators immediately had their suspects, and Nadine, Greg, and their friend were all brought in. But when they brought Nadine in for questioning, she didn’t blink. She didn’t cry. She didn’t twist the story to make herself look better. Instead, she leaned in across the table and told them everything.

 “Yes, I shot her,” she said flatly without a trace of remorse in her voice. “She was going to have my son killed.” “She wouldn’t stop, and it didn’t come out like an apology, more like a justification.” Greg sat beside his mother and told investigators the truth. He had been there, too. And not just as a witness, but as an accomplice.

 He admitted that during the shooting, he reloaded the pistol for her, handed it back, and never once tried to stop her. Soon after, police recovered the 22 caliber revolver along with empty shell casings and bloodstained clothes. It all lined up. There was no puzzle left to piece together. No mystery to solve. No need for forensic tests or long interviews. They had confessions.

 They had the weapon. And they had a timeline backed by the two people who ended Cindy’s life. So less than 48 hours after Cindy’s murder, Nadine and Greg were arrested. Seoia County had never seen anything like it. A mother and son arrested in record time for one of the most vicious killings in the state’s recent history.

And while other cases crawled through the courts for years, this one moved fast because there was nowhere else for it to go. By 1983, the prosecution didn’t need to prove that Nadine pulled the trigger. She had already admitted that. What they had to show was that this wasn’t a moment of spontaneous rage, but that it was planned.

 A slow build of anger and obsession that ended with Cindy bleeding out on a recliner in a trailer in Gans. And with every word Nadine gave them, every piece of evidence, and every witness willing to testify, that narrative only got stronger. The pictures were brutal. Cindy’s body was covered in bruises with nine bullet wounds and a deep gash across her neck that looked like someone had tried to silence her in the most desperate way.

The autopsy confirmed what Cindy never had the chance to say. She had been shot five times in the chest, twice in the head, and once in the back. Any one of those could have ended her life. And the knife wound, deliberate, forceful, and deep, could have done the same. Nadine’s defense team pleaded for mercy.

 They argued that she acted out of fear, that Cindy was a threat to her son, Greg. They pointed out that Nadine had no prior criminal record and tried to frame her as a mother doing what she thought she had to do to protect her child. Greg also took the stand and his testimony was torn between loyalty and guilt. He admitted he helped.

 He reloaded the gun, but also claimed he honestly believed his mother was trying to save him. But the jury didn’t see it that way. After hours of deliberation, they found Nadine guilty of firstdegree murder and sentenced her to death. Jim and Teresa were arrested, too, though their exact sentences aren’t publicly known.

 Greg was convicted as an accomplice and sentenced to life. He served 27 years before being parrolled in 2009. But his freedom didn’t last long. Less than 2 years later, Greg, now going by James, was back in prison, this time for a drug charge. It wasn’t violent, but it was serious enough to send him back. He stayed locked up until April 2011.

 And once he got out, he disappeared. For the next three years, he was off the radar. Then in 2014, police in Montana arrested him again. This time on kidnapping and assault charges. That August, Kathleen Mitchell boarded a bus out of Oklahoma. But she didn’t leave by choice. She was fleeing for her life.

 The domestic violence shelter in Taloqua had helped her escape after her ex-boyfriend, James Gregory Smith, beat her and threatened her life. But by October 9th, he had already tracked her down. Across state lines hundreds of miles away in Bosezeman, Montana, James found her and took control all over again. For nearly 2 months, Kathleen was held against her will in a motel room.

 She was isolated, beaten, and constantly threatened. She feared for her own life and for the safety of her children. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore. She waited until James fell asleep and quietly called 911. When the dispatcher picked up, all she whispered was, “Help me.” And when the police showed up, she begged them to put her in their patrol car and not leave her behind.

 That day, James was arrested. But Montana wasn’t the only place that wanted him. Back in Oklahoma, he was already a wanted man for violating parole. Now, he faced up to 10 years in prison for kidnapping. though records don’t make it clear how much time he actually served or whether he was ever returned to Oklahoma to face consequences there for violating parole.

Meanwhile, Nadine had already entered death row at the Mabel Basset Correctional Center, and for the next 19 years, she fought through one appeal after another, arguing that her nickname had biased the jury, that her confession wasn’t fair, and that she wasn’t mentally competent. But every court denied her claims, including the US Supreme Court.

 And in the end, a date was set. And on the evening of December 4th, 2001, Nadine was strapped to the gurnie. For her last meal, she had requested barbecue ribs, onion rings, strawberry banana cake, and a cherry lemonade. When the time came, her last words were soft but steady. To the family, I want to say I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you. She said, please forgive me.

You must forgive to be forgiven. Then she added, to live as Christ, to die is gain. Thank you, Jesus. Inside the witness chamber, Cindy’s daughter, Brandy Fields, sat beside her husband, a family friend, and an aunt. She listened as the woman who had taken her mother’s life asked for forgiveness. Afterward, Brandy spoke through tears.

If she really meant it, you have to forgive even though it’s very hard and it doesn’t help me at all. She said, “It does a little bit, but it doesn’t bring back my mom.” Her voice cracked. I wish she thought of this before she did what she did. We wouldn’t be in this position. And yet for Brandy, it wasn’t truly over.

 Not while Greg still had parole hearings ahead. I’m glad this part of it is over because I don’t ever have to hear that she’s got clemency or is going to stay the rest of her remaining life in prison. She’s got what the court handed down to her. At 9:13 p.m., just 2 minutes after the drugs were administered, Nadine was pronounced dead.

 Lois Nadine Smith was 61 years old. Nadine had been the first woman sentenced to death in Oklahoma after the reinstatement of capital punishment. But in the end, she became the last woman the state executed. Both Wanda Gene Allen and Marilyn K. Plants were also executed in 2001, just months earlier. What do you think? Has justice been served? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.