BREAKING: Oklahoma Executed Lois Nadean Smith After 19 Years | Female Death Row Case
On December 4th, 2001 after spending 19 years on death row, Lois Nen Smith was executed by lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in Mallister, Oklahoma. She was 61 years old. In this video, we will talk about what happened, her last words, and her last meal. Lois’s last words were emotional and religious.
I want to say I’m sorry for the pain and loss I’ve caused you. I ask that you forgive me. You must forgive to be forgiven. To live is Christ. To die is gain. Thank you, Jesus. She continued mouththing, “Thank you, Jesus.” as the drugs flowed into her veins. But to uncover the events of that fateful day and why Lois ended up being executed, we have to go back to Independence Day 1982 and a mother’s deadly obsession with protecting her son at any cost.
July 4th, 1982, Independence Day in Gans, Oklahoma. While most Americans were celebrating freedom with fireworks and barbecues, a 21-year-old woman named Cindy Bailey was fighting for her life inside a home in Sequoia County. Cindy had been picked up that morning from a Taloqua motel by three people. Lois Naen Smith, a 42-year-old woman with a reputation for violence.
Greg Smith, Lois’s son and Cindy’s ex-boyfriend, and Teresa Baker, another woman who accompanied them. Cindy thought she was going to talk to clear the air to settle whatever misunderstanding had caused tension between her and Greg. But Lois had other plans. As soon as they drove away from the motel, Lois confronted Cindy about rumors.
Rumors that Cindy had threatened to have Greg killed. rumors that Cindy had reported Lois to the police for drug dealing. Cindy denied everything. She said she had never made threats. She said she had never talked to the police. But Lois didn’t believe her. And in that car on the morning of July 4th, 1982, Lois Naden Smith decided that Cindy Bailey had to die.
Lois Naen Smith was born on September 12th, 1940 in Oklahoma. From the time she was in high school, people knew her by a nickname that would follow her for the rest of her life. Mean Naiden. It wasn’t a term of endearment. It was a warning. Lois had a reputation for being aggressive, violent, and dangerous.
She was the kind of person you didn’t cross. the kind of person who would hold a grudge and make you pay for it. By the time Lois reached adulthood, she had married and had children, including her son, Greg. But her marriage didn’t last. Lois and her husband, Jim Smith, divorced, though they remained connected through their children.
Lois struggled with alcohol and drug abuse throughout her adult life. People who knew her said she was an overprotective mother, fiercely loyal to her children, willing to do anything to defend them. But that loyalty would eventually turn deadly. By 1982, Lois was 42 years old and living a chaotic life fueled by substances and paranoia.
She believed people were out to get her son. She believed Cindy Bailey, Greg’s ex-girlfriend, was one of those people. And on July 4th, 1982, Lois decided to eliminate the threat. Cindy Bailey was 21 years old in 1982. She had a three-year-old daughter named Brandy Fields. Cindy was young, trying to navigate life as a single mother, trying to build a future for herself and her child.
She had dated Greg Smith at some point, but the relationship had ended. There’s no evidence that Cindy posed any threat to Greg or Lois. There’s no evidence that she had made arrangements to have Greg killed. There’s no evidence that she had reported Lois to the police. But Lois believed the rumors. And in Lois’s world, belief was enough.
That morning, when Lois, Greg, and Teresa picked Cindy up from the motel, Cindy had no idea she was being driven to her death. She got into the car willingly, thinking she was going to have a conversation, maybe clear up some misunderstanding. But as soon as the car started moving, Lois turned on her. Lois confronted Cindy about the rumors.
Cindy denied them. She said she hadn’t done anything wrong. She begged Lois to believe her, but Lois wasn’t interested in the truth. She was interested in revenge. While they were still in the car, Lois reached over and began choking Cindy. Cindy struggled, gasping for air, trying to fight back, but Lois was stronger and more determined.
Then Lois grabbed a knife. The knife had been found in Cindy’s own purse, a cruel irony that would later be noted in court. Lois stabbed Cindy in the throat. Blood poured from the wound. Cindy screamed in pain and terror, but Lois didn’t stop. She kept driving, kept moving toward her ex-husband, Jim Smith’s home in Gans. When they arrived at the house, Robin Smith, Jim’s current wife, was there, but Robin left shortly after Lois and the others arrived.
Whether she sensed danger or simply had somewhere else to be, we don’t know. What we do know is that once Robin was gone, there was no one left to stop what was about to happen. Lois forced Cindy into the house. Cindy was bleeding from the stab wound to her throat, terrified, begging for her life.
Lois made Cindy sit in a recliner chair and then Lois pulled out a pistol. Lois stood over Cindy, taunting her with a gun. She told Cindy she was going to die. She told her there was nothing she could do to stop it. Cindy begged. She pleaded. She said she had a daughter, a little girl who needed her mother. But Lois didn’t care.
Lois raised the pistol and began firing. The first shots hit Cindy in the chest. Cindy fell from the recliner to the floor, blood pouring from the gunshot wounds. She was still alive, still conscious, still suffering. Greg Smith, Lois’s son, was in the room. He watched his mother shoot Cindy, and when the pistol ran out of bullets, Greg reloaded it for her.
He handed the gun back to his mother, knowing exactly what she was going to do with it. While Greg reloaded the gun, Lois did something that would haunt everyone who heard about it. She laughed. She jumped on Cindy’s neck, pressing down with her full weight, crushing Cindy’s throat while she lay bleeding on the floor. Lois was enjoying this.
She was reveling in Cindy’s pain, in her terror, in her helplessness. Once Greg handed the reloaded pistol back to Lois, she fired again. Four more shots into Cindy’s chest. The bullets tore through Cindy’s body, shattering bones, destroying organs, causing unimaginable pain. But Lois still wasn’t finished.
She walked around Cindy’s body, stood over her head, and fired two shots into the back of Cindy’s skull. Execution style, nine gunshot wounds in total, a stab wound to the throat. Repeated choking and jumping on her neck. Cindy Bailey died on the floor of that house in Gans, Oklahoma on Independence Day 1982, tortured and executed by a woman who called herself a protective mother.
Cindy’s body was left in the house. Lois, Greg, and Teresa left the scene, but they didn’t get far. Someone had heard the gunshots. Someone had called the police. And within hours, Lois Naden Smith and her son, Greg were arrested and charged with murder. The investigation into Cindy Bailey’s death revealed the full extent of the brutality.
The autopsy showed nine gunshot wounds, a stab wound to the throat, and evidence of severe trauma to her neck consistent with choking and being stomped on. Forensic evidence placed Lois and Greg at the scene. Witnesses confirmed they had picked Cindy up from the motel that morning. The murder weapon, the pistol, was recovered. And both Lois and Greg eventually confessed to their roles in the killing.
Teresa Baker was also involved in the case, though her exact charges in role were less clear in the records. But it was Lois who faced the most serious consequences. She was charged with first-degree murder. Greg was also charged with murder. The trial began in 1983. The prosecution painted a clear picture of what had happened.
This was not self-defense. This was not a crime of passion. This was premeditated torture and murder. Lois had confronted Cindy about rumors. Cindy had denied the accusations. And instead of letting it go, instead of walking away, Lois had decided to kill her. The prosecution presented evidence of the choking, the stabbing, the nine gunshots, the laughing, the jumping on Cindy’s neck.
They presented testimony from witnesses who described Lois’s violent reputation, her nickname mean Nadian, her history of aggression. Lois’s defense attorneys tried to argue that she was protecting her son, that she genuinely believed Cindy was a threat to Greg’s life. They argued that Lois was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the murder, that her judgment was impaired, that she didn’t fully understand what she was doing.
But the prosecution dismantled that argument. You don’t accidentally torture someone. You don’t accidentally fire nine shots. You don’t accidentally laugh while jumping on someone’s throat. This was intentional. This was cruel. This was murder. Lois herself testified during the trial. She admitted that she had stabbed Cindy. She admitted that she had fired shots at her, but she claimed she did not mean to kill her. The jury didn’t believe her.
How could they? The evidence was overwhelming. Cindy had been stabbed, shot nine times, choked, and stomped on. There was no way Lois could claim she didn’t mean to kill her. The intent was written in every wound, every bullet, every moment of torture. The jury found Lois Naden Smith guilty of first-degree murder.
They recommended the death penalty. The judge agreed. Lois was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Greg Smith, who had reloaded his mother’s gun during the murder, who had watched his mother torture and kill Cindy, was also convicted of murder. But Greg’s sentence was different. He was sentenced to life in prison, not death.
Why the difference? The prosecution likely believed that Lois was the primary actor, the one who initiated and carried out the majority of the violence. Greg was complicit, but Lois was the driving force. Still, the disparity in their sentences would become a point of controversy. Greg reloaded the gun. He enabled his mother to continue shooting.
He participated in the murder. Yet, he received life in prison while his mother received death. Lois was taken to death row to await her execution. Greg was sent to prison to serve his life sentence. And Teresa Baker, the third person in the car that day, faced her own legal consequences, though the specifics are less documented.
Cindy Bailey was buried, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Brandy, who would grow up without a mother, haunted by the knowledge that her mother had been tortured and murdered over rumors that were never proven to be true. For the next 19 years, Lois Nadian Smith sat on death row. She filed appeal after appeal trying to overturn her conviction, trying to save her life.
Her attorneys argued that she had been denied a fair trial. They claimed there was a conflict of interest because her lawyer had also represented Greg, a co-fendant. They argued that the lawyer had mishandled evidence and failed to present mitigating factors such as Lois’s history of alcohol and drug abuse.
They claimed that evidence pointing to Greg’s culpability had been excluded in order to protect him. But the courts rejected every appeal. The evidence against Lois was too strong. The crime was too brutal. The jury had made the right decision. Over the years, Lois became one of the last women on Oklahoma’s death row. In 2001, Oklahoma had already executed two other women earlier in the year, Wanda Gene Allen and Marilyn K. Plants.
By the time Lois’s execution date was set, she would become the third woman executed by Oklahoma in 2001. A grim record. No state had executed as many women in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. On November 7th, 2001, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board held a clemency hearing for Lois.
Her attorneys made their final arguments for mercy. They said Lois was 61 years old, frail, and no longer a threat to society. They argued that executing her would serve no purpose. But the board was unmoved. They denied clemency. Oklahoma Attorney General WA Drew Edmonson supported the decision, stating that the jury had justifiably found the murder to be especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel.
He said the sentence was appropriate, the years of appeals were complete, and the execution should be carried out. Lois’s attorneys appealed to the US Supreme Court in October 2001. On the first day back from summer recess, the Supreme Court rejected her final appeals. There would be no last minute stay, no reprieve, no mercy.
Lois Nen Smith would die on December 4th, 2001. As Lois’s execution date approached, Brandy Field, Cindy’s daughter, prepared to witness justice for her mother’s murder. Brandy was 3 years old when her mother was killed. She had grown up without Cindy, raised by other family members, carrying the weight of her mother’s brutal death her entire life.
Now 24 years old, Brandy was ready to see Lois pay for what she had done. December 4th, 2001, Lois Naden Smith’s final day on Earth. Outside the prison, a small group of protesters held a candlelight vigil. Eight women were arrested for crossing a police line at the Mabel Basset Correctional Center in Oklahoma City, where Lois had been housed before being transferred to Mallister for execution.
They were charged with misdemeanor trespassing. About 25 people participated in the civil disobedience advocating against the death penalty. But inside the prison, preparations for the execution continued. Witnesses began gathering. For Lois, there were six witnesses, four attorneys, a spiritual adviser, and an investigator.
For Cindy, there were four witnesses. Brandy Fields, her husband, a sister, and a family friend. At 9 boss p.m. the curtain to the viewing room opened. Lois was strapped to a gurnie, her arms extended, IV lines inserted into her veins. She was a 61-year-old woman with gray hair and glasses, looking frail and small on the execution table.
She appeared to be going meekly to her death, a stark contrast to the violent woman who had tortured Cindy Bailey 19 years earlier. The warden asked Lois if she had any final words. Lois raised her head from the gurnie and looked toward her witnesses. She signed, “I love you” to them,” a gesture that took several seconds.
Then she turned toward Brandy and Cindy’s family. She spoke clearly and emotionally. “I want to say, I’m sorry for the pain and loss I’ve caused you. I ask that you forgive me.” You must forgive to be forgiven, to live as Christ, to die as gain. Thank you, Jesus. Lois thanked her attorneys for their assistance and support over the years.
Then she lay her head back down on the gurnie and continued mouthing the words, “Thank you, Jesus,” over and over again. At 9:11 p.m., the lethal drugs began flowing into Lois’s veins. Oklahoma used a three drug protocol for executions. The first drug was a sedative designed to render Lois unconscious.
The second drug was a paralytic that would stop her breathing. The third drug was potassium chloride, which would stop her heart. Lois continued mouththing, “Thank you, Jesus!” as the drugs entered her bloodstream. Her lips moved silently, her eyes closed, and within seconds, she was unconscious.
Her breathing slowed, then stopped. Her chest ceased rising and falling. At 9:13 p.m., just 2 minutes after the drugs were administered, Lois Naden Smith was pronounced dead. The execution was over. The witness curtain was closed. Lois Naden Smith, who had earned the nickname Mean Nadian in high school, who had tortured and murdered a 21-year-old mother on Independence Day 1982, who had laughed while jumping on her victim’s throat, was dead at the age of 61.
After the execution, Brandy Field spoke to reporters. Her words were measured, but filled with emotion. You do something of this magnitude torturing somebody, you’re going to have to pay the price for it. She chose her path in life. When asked about Lois’s apology, Brandy said, “If she really meant it, you have to forgive, even though it’s very hard and it doesn’t help me at all.
It does a little bit, but it doesn’t bring back my mom.” Brandy expressed relief that the execution was over. I wish she thought of this before she did what she did. We wouldn’t be in this position. I’m glad it’s over. It’s been a long time. But Brandy also acknowledged that her fight for justice wasn’t completely finished.
Greg Smith, the son who had reloaded his mother’s gun, was still in prison serving a life sentence. He had a parole hearing scheduled for May 2002. Brandy said, “It’s not completely over because I still have to go and do that until he dies.” Brandy made it clear that she would attend Greg’s parole hearing and fight to keep him in prison.
I’m glad this part of it over because I don’t ever have to hear that she’s got clemency or is going to stay the rest of her remaining life in prison. She’s got what the court handed down to her. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmonson released a statement after the execution. Justice has been served. The jury determined that this murder was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel.
And the sentence they handed down has now been carried out. The execution of Lois Nen Smith marked a grim milestone for Oklahoma. She was the third woman executed by the state in 2001, a record no other state had matched in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. She was also the last woman on Oklahoma’s death row at the time of her execution.
No woman has been executed in Oklahoma since. Lois was the 17th person executed in Oklahoma in 2001. The state led the nation that year with 18 total executions, surpassing even Texas, which had 16. The next execution was scheduled for just days later. Sahib al-Masawi, an Iraqi national convicted of killing his wife and uncle.
Oklahoma’s aggressive execution schedule in 2001 drew national attention and sparked debates about the death penalty. The case of Lois Nadian Smith raises difficult questions that continue to haunt discussions about the death penalty. Should a mother who believed she was protecting her son be executed? Does the fact that Lois was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the murder mitigate her responsibility? Was it fair that Lois received the death penalty while Greg, who reloaded the gun and enabled the murder to continue,
received only life in prison? These are questions without easy answers. What is not debatable is that Cindy Bailey should still be alive. She was a 21-year-old mother with a three-year-old daughter. She had her whole life ahead of her. She was killed over rumors that were never proven to be true.
Lois believed Cindy had threatened her son. Lois believed Cindy had reported her to the police, but there was no evidence, no proof, just paranoia fueled by alcohol, drugs, and a mother’s obsessive need to protect her child at any cost. Cindy was stabbed in the throat. She was shot nine times. She was choked. She was stomped on.
And through it all, Lois laughed. That laughter, that cruelty, that complete disregard for human life is what sealed Lois’s fate. Brandy Fields grew up without her mother. She was 3 years old when Cindy was murdered, too young to have meaningful memories of her. Bry’s childhood was shaped by loss, by the knowledge that her mother had been tortured and killed, by the absence of the woman who should have been there for every milestone, every moment.
When Brandy attended Lois’s execution at age 24, she was finally able to close one chapter of her life. But the pain of her mother’s murder would never fully go away. Brandy still had to face Greg’s parole hearings, still had to fight to keep her mother’s killer son behind bars. The trauma of July 4th, 1982, rippled through Bry’s entire life, affecting her in ways that can never be fully quantified or understood.
Greg Smith, who reloaded his mother’s gun, who watched her torture Cindy, who participated in the murder, is still in prison. In 2014, more than a decade after his mother’s execution, Greg was arrested again, this time in Bosezeman, Montana, on kidnapping charges. Prosecutors noted that the incident was remarkably similar to his mother’s crime, involving a woman and a situation where both Greg and the woman were highly intoxicated.
The violent patterns that defined Lois’s life seem to have passed down to her son, a generational cycle of abuse and violence that continues to this day. Lois Nadian Smith spent 19 years on death row. During that time, she became a grandmother. She aged from a violent, drug-addicted 42-year-old woman into a frail, gay-haired 61-year-old woman who found religion and claimed to have found peace.
Her attorneys said she had changed, that she was no longer the same person who had murdered Cindy Bailey. But the courts and the victim’s family disagreed. They said that change, if it was real, did not erase the crime. It did not bring Cindy back. It did not give Brandy her mother back. And it did not justify mercy. On Decemb
er 4th, 2001, at 9:13 p.m., Lois Nadian Smith’s life ended. Just 2 minutes. That’s how long it took for the drugs to stop her heart. 2 minutes. Cindy Baileyy’s death took much longer. She was tortured for an extended period, shot nine times, choked, stabbed, stomped on. She suffered unimaginable pain and terror before she finally died.
Lois’s death was peaceful in comparison, a fact that Brandy noted when she said that Lois got to die more gracefully than her mother ever did. The case of Lois Nadian Smith is now closed. A woman who earned the nickname Min Nadian in high school. A woman who believed her son was in danger and decided to eliminate the threat.
A woman who tortured and murdered a 21-year-old mother over unproven rumors. A woman who laughed while jumping on her victim’s throat. 19 years on death row. Multiple appeals. All denied. a final statement asking for forgiveness and quoting scripture. And finally, on a Tuesday evening in December 2001, a needle in the arm and a heart that stopped beating in just 2 minutes.
Justice, such as it is, was served. Lois Nen Smith was the eighth woman executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. She was the third woman executed by Oklahoma in 2001, a record that still stands. And she was the last woman on Oklahoma’s death row at the time of her execution.
No woman has been executed in Oklahoma since. The nickname mean Naian followed Lois from high school to the grave. It was a reputation she earned through violence, through aggression, through a willingness to hurt others. And on July 4th, 1982, that meanness reached its ultimate expression in the torture and murder of Cindy Bailey.
This is true crime matters. And Cindy Bailey’s life mattered. Her daughter Bry’s life mattered. And the justice that was finally served on December 4th, 2001 mattered.
