Randall Lee Smith


Randall Lee Smith was a convicted murderer from Pearisburg, Virginia. He pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Mountford Jr. and Laura Susan Ramsay, who were killed while hiking the Appalachian Trail, in May 1981. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but was released in 1996 on mandatory parole after serving 15 years. Both Smith's sentence and his early release were met with anger by the victims' families as well as the hiking community. Hikers protested outside the courtroom the day after his sentencing, and a spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conference said Smith is the "first person convicted of murdering a hiker who has had the opportunity to leave prison". His probation ended in 2006.
On May 6, 2008, Smith attempted to kill two fishermen less than two miles from the site of the 1981 murders. He befriended the two fishermen, who shared their dinner with Smith, before Smith opened fire on them without warning. Both men were shot twice, but survived. Smith was arrested that day after attempting to escape in one of the victim's trucks and subsequently crashing. He died in jail four days later as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
The novel Murder on the Appalachian Trail, by Jess Carr, is a fictionalized account of the 1981 murders.
The 1981 murder and 2008 attack on the fishermen were also depicted in the Investigation Discovery series Dead Silent: The Curse of Dismal Creek, season 1, episode 1, broadcast on October 25, 2016. Smith was also referenced in season 12, episode 4 of Criminal Minds.