Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC will reexamine the mysterious disappearance of Fran Gladden-Smith in 1991. The episode, titled “Chameleon,” will dive deeper into the case and reveal how authorities alleged that Fran’s husband, John David Smith, was responsible for his wife’s disappearance. Moreover, as the investigation progressed, police discovered troubling information about John’s life. The episode will air on the network on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
In September 1991, Fran Gladden-Smith disappeared from her West Windsor house, reported NJ.com. The outlet mentioned that John contacted the police and filed a missing person report on October 4, 1991. He further presented a note, which he claimed was written by Fran before she left. The note read, “Going away for a few days. Don’t forget to feed the fish.”
Although most of his claims were later proven false, police didn’t have enough evidence to take him into custody. Earlier, in 1988, authorities started gathering evidence for the murder of John’s first wife, Janice Hartman, per The Trentonian. Almost eight years later, authorities found that John was living with his third wife in California. A few years later, investigators discovered a box containing Janice Hartman’s belongings.
According to NJ.com, the box was originally found by John’s father in 1979. Back then, John took the box away. Although Indiana authorities found the box in 1980, it took almost two decades for them to confirm the identity of the dead person. The publication reported that the remains belonged to Janice Hartman. In 2000, police arrested John David Smith and charged him with murder. The court sentenced him to 15 years to life in prison. He is currently serving his sentence in a prison in Ohio.
Did the authorities ever find Fran Gladden-Smith?
As mentioned above, Fran Gladden-Smith disappeared in Septemeber 1991. Per NJ.com, John David Smith told police that he had last seen Fran almost a week ago and that she had taken a suitcase and left for a trip. However, Associated Press noted that Fran’s family remained unconvinced by John’s claims due to her ongoing recovery from hip surgery at the time. Moreover, his claims of Fran Gladden-Smith taking a suitcase turned out to be false because authorities discovered the same suitcase.
At the time, police didn’t have enough evidence to take him into custody. As a result, the case went cold, and Fran’s body remained undiscovered. However, in 2019, the authorities indicted John David Smith for the alleged murder of Fran Gladden-Smith. NJ.com reported the police indicted him despite not discovering her body because he confessed to discarding Fran Gladden-Smith’s body. Citing Fran’s sister’s claims, the outlet also mentioned that he put her in a blanket and dumped her body in an industrial dumpster.
In 2021, authorities offered him a plea deal and stated that he would be sentenced to just 20 years if he admitted that he killed Fran Gladden-Smith. However, two years later, the court announced that the jurors won’t be told anything about the killing of his first wife. The court said, “Simply stated, that the defendant killed his first wife in 1974 does not prove he killed his second in 1991.”
Last year, the court dismissed the murder case of Fran Gladden-Smith against John David Smith.
