Oscar Franklin Smith was born on March 25, 1950, in the United States.

On October 1, 1989, Judy Robird Smith and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett, were murdered in their home in Nashville, Tennessee. Judy was shot in the neck and stabbed multiple times. Chad was shot in the eye, upper chest, and torso. Jason was stabbed in the neck and abdomen. An awl was found at the crime scene, but the gun and knife used in the murders were never discovered.

At the time of these events, Oscar Franklin Smith, Judy's estranged husband, was separated from her. He had taken out life insurance policies on both Judy and her sons. Witnesses reported that Smith had threatened Judy's life on numerous occasions before the murders. During the incident, the family attempted to call for help, and Chad could be heard shouting, "Frank, no!"

In the trial that followed, investigators found a bloody palm print near Judy's body. This print was from the same two fingers that Smith was missing, which pointed to potential evidence against him. However, Smith later challenged this evidence by hiring a fingerprint expert who claimed the investigation had serious errors. On July 26, 1990, a jury convicted Smith and sentenced him to death.

Following the trial, Smith continued to fight his conviction. He joined a group of death row inmates in arguing that lethal injection is torture. Smith's execution was delayed several times, with dates set and postponed due to various reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic. He was ultimately scheduled for execution on April 21, 2022.

In March 2022, Smith's attorneys filed a petition for clemency, asking for his sentence to be changed to life without parole. Later in April, he requested to reopen his case due to new DNA evidence found on a weapon linked to the murders. His attorney argued that the DNA analysis showed an unknown person committed the murders. However, a Tennessee court denied his request to reopen the case.

As his execution date approached, Smith asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to cancel his execution. The court declined to hear his appeal. On the day he was set to be executed, Governor Bill Lee issued a temporary reprieve due to issues related to the preparation for lethal injection. Following this, it was revealed that the execution procedures had not been followed properly, leading the governor to suspend all executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year.