Convicted murderer William Flynn should not be granted early release from prison.

The case in his favor is compelling - he was all of 16 years old when he fell in love with Pamela Smart, the media coordinator at Winnacunnet High in Hampton, N.H. where Flynn was a student.

Now he is 33, and at a sentence-reduction hearing last week appeared to show genuine remorse, shame and grief over his role in one of the most notorious crimes of the past two decades - the gunshot murder of Smart's husband, Gregory Smart, 24, in the couple's Derry condo.

He was a classic troubled, vulnerable teen. His father had died. His mother did little to curb his behavior problems, and Pamela Smart was the first woman to give him the attention he craved.

In the 17 years since he went to prison, he has reportedly led an exemplary life: he has married, completed his high school education, trained as an electrician and volunteered for various organizations. He came to court bearing letters of support from social workers, counselors and prison officials detailing programs Flynn has overseen and participated in during his incarceration.

That maturity and transformation from a crime in his teens should be applauded.

But it doesn't outweigh what members of Gregory Smart's family have pointed out - their son and brother will never get to do any of those things.

It should not make him eligible for early release.

Flynn, serving time at the Maine State Prison in Warren, has already benefited from a major reduction in what his sentence could have been. Flynn, who pulled the trigger, Patrick Randall, who held a knife to Smart's throat, and another friend, Vance Lattime Jr., who waited in a getaway car, were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for their testimony against Pamela Smart. Instead of life without parole, Flynn got 40 years, with 12 years of that deferred.

Even if he serves that entire time, he could have decades of freedom left in a normal lifetime - freedom he stole from Gregory Smart.

It should be noted that the Smart family has shown enormous compassion for both Randall and Lattime. They have not opposed their early release from prison. But they feel differently about the man who executed their son in his own home, as their son pleaded for his life. Their feelings, and the loss that they have suffered, should be understood and respected.

Flynn's scheduled release date will be an early release - very early. He should not walk free even earlier than that.