Pamela Smart's former teenage lover has been granted parole nearly 25 years after he shot her husband dead at her request. William 'Billy' Flynn, who murdered Gregg Smart in 1990, was granted parole by a three-person board in Concord, New Hampshire on Thursday, his 41st birthday. 'It's your birthday,' said board chairwoman Donna Sytek. 'We're granting you the privilege of parole.' Flynn has been in a Maine prison and participated in the hearing by telephone, telling the board that he'd always be haunted by the killing. 'I will always feel terrible about what happened 25 years ago,' he said. 'Parole will not change that.' Freed: Billy Flynn (pictured in court in 2008) has been granted parole after 25 years behind bars . He will not be freed before his parole eligibility date of June 4 - but when he does leave, he will be reunited with his wife, whom he married from behind bars, and a  stepdaughter. Smart, who is serving a life sentence, was an instructor in a self-awareness program at Winnicunnet High School in Hampton when she seduced 15-year-old Flynn, a fellow volunteer. She told him she needed her 24-year-old husband killed because she feared she would lose everything, including her dog and furniture, if she divorced him. On May 1, 1990, Flynn, then 16, and 17-year-old Patrick Randall entered the Smarts' Derry condominium and forced Gregory Smart, a sales representative for an insurance company, to his knees in the foyer, while another friend waited outside in a getaway car. As Randall held a knife to the man's throat, Flynn shot him in the head. Before his parole decision was issued, the victim's brother, Dean Smart, read a letter from his 23-year-old daughter, Ashley. Family: Dean Smart (left), the brother of victim Gregg Smart, speaks during the parole hearing in Concord, New Hampshire on Thursday. He said that he hopes Flynn will now make something better of his life . Decision: A three-person board, pictured, granted the parole on Thursday, Flynn's 41st birthday . 'Mr. Flynn is only in this situation because he decided to play God one night and take an innocent man's life,' her letter said. 'You singlehandedly destroyed a whole family.' But Dean Smart struck a more hopeful note. 'I hope he does something great with his life,' he said. Before the parole was granted, another brother, Rick Smart, had told the Boston Herald that he believed Flynn should be freed because he was a teenager at the time and has served his time. 'Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he shouldn't have been punished,' he said. 'But I want to put this behind me and I'm sure he wants to put it behind him.' Flynn, who earned his GED and electrician's helper license behind bars, said finding a job will be his biggest challenge, noting that employers immediately search his name on the Internet. 'The first they learn about me is the worst thing I've ever done,' he said. Teacher:  Pamela Smart (seen in 1991) was convicted of conspiring with her teen lover, William 'Billy' Flynn, to kill her 24-year-old husband, Gregory Smart. Smart is serving a life without parole sentence . Student: In this 1991 file photo,  Flynn testifies on his 17th birthday how he shot Gregory Smart in the head . To this day, Pamela Smart denies knowing about the plot. But the state's star witness, a teenage intern in whom Smart confided, secretly recorded her after the killing saying, 'If you tell the (expletive) truth, you'll send me to the slammer for the rest of my (expletive) life.' Flynn pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and testified in Smart's 1991 trial that she threatened to break up with him if he didn't kill her husband. He was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison, minus time served before trial. His age and testimony against Smart were taken into account at sentencing. Seven years ago, testifying on his motion for a reduced sentence, a tearful Flynn took full responsibility for his actions and apologized. 'I promise you I will carry this guilt and remorse with me every day for the rest of my life,' he said. Flynn married wife Kelly while behind bars in 2006 and has a stepdaughter. They married after Kelly, a divorcee, started writing to him in prison. By his side: Kelly Flynn, who married Flynn while he was behind bars in 2006, said in 2008 that she would be waiting for him to help him adjust when he came out. She is pictured at a hearing in his case in 2008 . Murdered: Smart's husband, Gregory Smart (seen on their wedding day), was shot in the head in May 1990 . 'The more I got to know Bill, the more I realized that he was not the same person who became involved with Pam Smart at the tender age of 15,' Kelly wrote in 2008 in a previous request for a suspended sentence, according to coverage in Seacoast Online. In the request, she wrote that when Flynn gets out of prison, she would help him adjust. 'I am not naive, but a 39-year-old woman with a teenage daughter, so I know there will be adjustments for all of us, and some of them may be hard,' wrote Kelly, who is now 48. Records show her daughter is now 23. She went on: 'Whether you decide that he gets out now, in a few years, or in many years, my commitment to him will not change. I am in this for life, because without him I would have less in my life and when I think of my future, I cannot see it unless it includes him. He is the heart of me.' Smart, whose trial was the first to be televised nationally from start to finish, was convicted March 22, 1991, of being an accomplice to first-degree murder, conspiracy and witness tampering. She admitted seducing the boy but said she didn't plan her husband's murder. 'This never would have happened if it wasn't for Pam Smart,' said attorney Paul Maggiotto, who prosecuted Smart. 'It was Smart's manipulation of Flynn that caused this crime to occur.' On the big screen: The case inspired the 1995 movie 'To Die For.' In the film, Nicole Kidman plays a woman named Suzanne Stone, who becomes involved in a relationship with a teen, played by Joaquin Phoenix . Smart's friend and spokeswoman, Eleanor Pam, told The Associated Press that Smart chafes at her life sentence without the chance at freedom. Smart told her: 'If they look at Flynn, they really should take a look at me.' Pam said that while Smart acknowledges the affair with Flynn led to the series of events leading up to her husband's death, she maintains she didn't plan it. Randall, Flynn's friend, got 28 years to life; he comes up for parole in April. Two other teenagers served prison sentences and have been released. Their case inspired the 1995 movie 'To Die For.' In the film, Nicole Kidman plays a woman named Suzanne Stone, who becomes involved in a relationship with a teen, played by Joaquin Phoenix.
William 'Billy' Flynn was granted parole by a three-person board in New Hampshire on Thursday - his 41st birthday . He is being held in a prison in Maine so took part in the hearing by phone . He will not be freed before June 4 but will then be reunited with his wife Kelly, whom he married from behind bars in 2006 . Flynn was seduced by teacher Pamela Smart, then 22, and shot dead her husband Gregg Smart, 24, in 1990 . At Pamela Smart's trial, Flynn said she had threatened to break up with him if he didn't kill her husband, but she denies knowing about the murder . Smart is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole . The case inspired the 1995 movie 'To Die For' starring Nicole Kidman and Joaquin Phoenix .