Lee Smart, a teenage murderer, was 19 years old when he joined with Jerry Myles in a violent takeover of Montana State Prison on April 16, 1959.
By Kevin S. Giles
(c) copyright Kevin S. Giles
(I derived the following material from my prison memoir, Jerry’s Riot: The True Story of Montana’s 1959 Prison Disturbance. My investigation into Lee Smart included personal interviews with people who knew him and research of documents related to his crimes. Jerry’s Riot, written from interviews with dozens of eyewitnesses, remains the only authoritative and copyrighted source of information about the riot.)
Jerry’s Riot tells the story of the 1959 takeover of Montana State Prison by career criminal Jerry Myles and his 19-year-old boyfriend, Lee Smart.
Today’s criminal laws would prohibit sending a 16-year-old boy to prison where he mingled with adult men. Yet that very thing happened in 1956 in the strange case of murderer Lee Smart.
The teenager’s romantic interest in a hardened career criminal more than twice his age led to a deadly takeover of Montana State Prison in April 1959.
Smart, 19, and his co-conspirator Jerry Myles seized the prison for thirty-six hours. Myles, a recognized sociopath, wanted glory. Smart’s motive hinged on his mistaken belief that Myles would help him escape.