Serial killer denied parole again

Mark A. Smith, an admitted serial killer serving 500 years in prison, again was denied parole, according to a letter from the State of Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

Smith, 70, pleaded guilty in 1971 in McHenry County to the brutal rape and murders of Jean Bianchi, a 27-year-old wife and a mother of two young children, and 17-year-old Jean Anne Lingenfelter, both of McHenry.

Bianchi, who is not related to retired McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi, disappeared from a McHenry laundromat Jan. 27, 1970. She left behind her laundry and an unfinished letter.

Smith forced her into his car at knifepoint. He repeatedly stabbed and raped her. He dumped her body off a bridge outside McHenry and came back when he saw her climbing up an embankment.

Smith, currently housed at Danville Correctional Facility, also is serving time for another murder in Cook County. Should he ever be released, he would be taken to Arkansas, where he would serve life in prison for the murder of Obie Fay Ash, officials said.

By his own admission in the book “Legally Sane,” Smith killed at least eight more in Germany, where he was stationed with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Smith last came before the parole board in 2014. Before then, he was allowed to be considered for early release every three years. Each time, the victims’ family members endured listening to the brutal details of his crimes.

The law since has changed, and he now comes before the board every five years.

Smith served 10 years before becoming eligible for parole. An additional 18 years were tacked on for an escape attempt.

His projected discharge date is May 31, 2219, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.

Four months after Bianchi’s murder, Jean Anne Lingenfelter never returned home from studying at a friend’s house. The 17-year-old was a week away from graduating high school.

Lingenfelter’s naked body was found by a young couple on a beach in the Lakeland Park subdivision.

After being arrested for the McHenry murders, Smith eventually confessed to raping and killing Janice Bolyard in Cook County. He and Bolyard worked at a Des Plaines plant. He killed her at the plant using her own pantyhose as his murder weapon.

He is serving 400 years for the McHenry County murders and 100 years for the Cook County murder, according to the IDOC website.

“Mark Smith deserves to die in prison, and society is safer with him behind bars,” Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs said. “Based on the sadistic nature of his crimes, he does not deserve to be released on parole.”