BALTIMORE (AP) -- He called her "Banana Queen" and "Love Flower" in his love letters. A card from her with a handwritten note was found in his cell.
The object of inmate Byron Smoot's apparent affection wasn't his wife -- she was someone else's. Even worse, authorities say, she was a former prison psychologist who had an affair with Smoot and helped him and a convicted murderer escape from Maryland Correctional Institution.Elizabeth Feil, 43, was charged with helping the men in their short-lived escape after authorities found more than 100 letters from Smoot to Feil in her Annapolis home. And that photo, taken 11 years ago when Glenn Bosshard and Feil were on vacation.
Bosshard identified his wife as the woman in the photo when sheriff's deputies showed up at his door.
"Up until that point, I thought we were deeply in love. You have no idea how devastated I am by this," Bosshard said.
Smoot, a 29-year-old armed robber, and Gregory Lawrence, a 39-year-old convicted murderer, escaped from the medium-security prison in Jessup on May 18. They were captured two days later in Baltimore.
Feil was charged Tuesday and released on $5,225 bail. If convicted, she could be sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
She has denied the allegations.
Letters found stashed in shoe boxes at Feil's home detail a sexual relationship between the pair, Bosshard's lawyer said.
"They are love letters, some are very pornographic," said the attorney, David Fischer. "They detail and confirm that Mr. Smoot and Dr. Feil had a sexual and emotional relationship for more than a year."
In the letters, Smoot calls Feil "Love Flower," "Banana Queen" and "Bookie," and signs them, "Love Byron, your loving husband."
Smoot, who is married to a Methodist minister in Baltimore, tells Feil he looks forward to the day when they will elope and get married and have the chance to be together.