Yorkshire woman gets engaged to American serial killer imprisoned for life

Tracy Bottomley, 42, from Shipley, never expected to fall in love, but couldn't help developing feelings for imprisoned killer Ernest Otto Smith, 53.

He was jailed for life, without parole, after he brutally murdered a man and woman in 2005.

Smith, who is serving his life sentence in Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, OH, USA - proposed to divorced Tracy on a voicemail from prison, and they plan to get married this year.

In the recording he said: "Please you have got to figure out a way for me to marry you.

"It's hard. You make me a very a happy person; more happy than I have been in years.

"You're crazy just like me so we should be married - what do you think?"

Tracy told the Real Fix podcast that she accepted his proposal - and isn't scared of marrying a confessed double murderer.

Speaking to the podcast, which helps people share their real life stories in their own words, she said: "Ernest doesn't scare me - I've never been someone who gets frightened easily.

"Yes he is a serial killer. He's committed a few murders, but I understand the risks of what could happen and I still love him.

“At first I had slight intuition that these things could happen to me. He’s killed these other people.

“As time went along, we started getting close and trusting each other more to feel secure.”

Ernest Otto Smith, 53, robbed, shot and killed James Dillingham in Toledo, Ohio, on January 2nd, 2005.

He was accompanied by Cathy Barnett, who he murdered whilst on the run in Kentucky on January 7th, after fearing she would report him to the police.

Smith tried to break Cathy Barnett's neck before he beat her to death with a tree branch and went on the run until police arrested him.

He was convicted for the murder of James Dillingham in March 2006 and sentenced to 32 years in prison.

After confiding in his parole officer about Cathy Barnett's murder, Smith then pleaded guilty to the crime in court in March 2016 and was handed a life sentence, without parole.

Unemployed Tracy started talking to Smith after seeing an advert for him on a prison pen pal Facebook page, in 2018.

She and Smith soon struck up a friendship, emailing each other three times a day as they bonded over the bad experiences they'd both endured when they were younger.

Chatting over the phone, their relationship blossomed as they confided in each other about stories of their lives.

In May 2019, the pair confessed they had developed feelings for each other, and got engaged after he proposed on voicemail from Ohio State Penitentiary.

Tracy says Smith’s crimes were influenced by his troubled childhood.

Speaking to the podcast she said: “He got me in touch with a few members of his family. They were explaining that deep down he did have problems in his past, but he’s never literally gone out of his way to hurt somebody.

“He was a victim of child abuse, which led to him using drugs to battle his depression and anxiety.

"I connected to his problems, and I was interested in finding out more about what he'd been through.

"I'm still in shock that Ernest proposed. I didn't see it coming at all, but I love him so obviously I said 'yes'.

“You can’t help who you fall in love with no matter what the circumstances. Just because it’s a situation like that, it doesn’t mean you are deluded.”

Tracy spoke to the team at the Real Fix podcast - a brand new podcast featuring real life people sharing their extraordinary personal stories in their own words.

Listen to the Real Fix podcast here https://www.real-fix.com/real-fix-podcast/ or subscribe using the appropriate podcast platform here https://plnk.to/realfix