Diane Beasley: Third wife of killer John Smith reveals how she 'was very careful' and 'lucky' to not become prey to husband

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: As they got married in 1998 after a fervent three-month romance, Diane Beasley, the third wife of John Smith, was convinced the Ohio man was indeed her soul mate.

However, she would later learn that Smith was sought after for killing his first wife and had gone on to murder his second spouse as well. The FBI warned Beasley in 1999 that she might be the third.

John Smith was slapped with a charge of aggravated murder in connection with the 1974 disappearance of Doylestown resident Janice Hartman, who vanished three days after their divorce was finalized.

Hartman's body was discovered in April 1980 sealed in a wooden box along a rural road in northwest Indiana. Betty Fran Gladden-Smith, Smith's second wife, was reported missing from their New Jersey home in 1991. Nobody has seen her since.  

During one of her interviews, Beasley revealed her side of the story, reflecting on why she was not harmed or killed by the murderous man.

Diane Beasley changed phone number and door locks

In an interview with Daily Record in 2001, Diane Beasley stated she was still alive only because she was aware of her husband's boundaries. "I knew how far I could push John, and I never went over that line," she said. "I never pushed him into a corner. ... I was lucky."

A judge in San Diego County Superior Court approved an annulment petition to dissolve John David Smith III's third marriage on June 28, 2001, while he sat in a Wayne County courtroom waiting for a jury to be seated for the trial of the death of his first wife, Janice Hartman.

Beasley filed the request for annulment on December 17, 1999. She had been married to John David Smith III since September 1998.

Beasley claimed that by the time she filed for the divorce, she had grown so afraid of her husband that she had her daughter move in with her, changed her phone number, and even changed the door locks of their apartment.

She claimed she deliberately avoided being by herself. "I was careful," she said. "I was very, very careful." Beasley claimed that her husband broke down the door of the couple's Oceanside, California apartment because he was so enraged about the annulment request.

She admitted that she had no idea what might have occurred if her daughter hadn't been present. 

"I was never in love with John. We had a lot of things in common. We had fun together. He bought me a lot of nice things. We were just sort of doing our thing together. John was never mean to me. He gave me anything that I wanted. He was thoroughly nice to me," Beasley said.

Diane Beasley claimed John David Smith's lies poisoned relationship

However, she claimed that over time, a string of lies her husband told her poisoned their relationship. "After our marriage, John began telling me these little fibs," she stated. "Later on he was just blatantly lying to me."

She claimed that even though she would eventually find out the truth about the circumstances, she was afraid to press her husband for a thorough explanation.

Diane Beasley later said she came to the conclusion that "John lies constantly. Everything that comes out of John's mouth is a lie." John "always tries to play the model citizen, the perfect gentleman," according to Beasley.

When FBI agents contacted Beasley in May 1999 and informed her about her husband's missing wives, Smith said she heeded their advice to "do your own homework on this."

Shortly after, she got in touch with Sherrie Gladden-Davis, whose sister, Fran Gladden-Smith, had been the second wife to vanish while married to John David Smith.

Beasley said that she and Gladden-Smith's sister went into a small storage unit that John Smith had rented to learn more about Smith's past.

According to her, that fishing excursion produced information regarding John Smith's temporary residence in Indiana, which was near the site of the body later determined to be that of Janice Hartman.

Is Diane Beasley still in touch with John Smith?

Beasley has kept in touch with Smith since his incarceration, sending letters and calls. "I think I'm the only one that communicates with him," she said. "It's always the same thing with him. Everybody's out to get him. He's been wronged by everyone."

"I hope to God he doesn't get out," Smith said. "He should be locked up for the rest of his life."

During the proceedings, John David Smith III's co-attorneys, Beverly Wire, the public defender for Wayne County, and Kirk Migdal of Akron, stated that their case is unaffected by the annulment action.

While Migdal observed that the defense team had "no focus on that" court action, Wire stated that the team was "not interested in the relationship" their client had with his wife.

True crime show 'NBC Dateline's episode 'Chameleon', which covers the murder case, premiered on Friday, April 26, and was streamed on Peacock and Hulu the following day.