Posted on 04/24/2014 11:07:12 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — A Minnesota man who killed two teenagers who broke into his home can be heard on an audio recording talking to himself for hours after the shooting and at one point, apparently describing the slain teens as "vermin."
Byron Smith, of Little Falls, faces first-degree premeditated murder charges in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. Smith, 65, claimed he was defending himself and feared for his life after several break-ins at his home.
Prosecutors, though, say Smith planned the killings. They say he sat in a chair in his basement and waited for the teens to enter his home, instead of calling police.
Smith waited a full day after he shot them before asking a neighbor to call the authorities....
The killings stunned this central Minnesota community and stirred debate about how far people can go to defend their homes. Under Minnesota law, a person may use deadly force to prevent a felony from taking place in one's home or dwelling, but authorities have said Smith crossed a line when he continued to shoot the teens after they were no longer a threat.
Authorities who searched Smith's home after the killings testified Wednesday that they found an audio recorder that was turned on and an operating video surveillance system. The recorder was sitting on top of books on a bookshelf, near a chair where prosecutors say Smith waited for the teens....
Prosecutors also showed images from surveillance cameras that Smith had set up outside his home. The four different camera angles showed Smith leaving his home in his truck at 11:25 a.m. on the day of the killings, then returning on foot at 11:45.
At 12:33 p.m., Brady shows up in a hooded, camouflage jacket ...
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...
Kind of like a living “trap gun!” However, it is his house and he can do whatever he wants while inside; i.e. “lay low.” I would still go manslaughter. The people inside were engaging in a dangerous felony. Should we not draw a veil over what a homeowner does to those engaged in Burglary in the home? His home is his castle and one Burgles at ones peril.
there is no duty to retreat in your home.
there is no “be nice clause” for home intruders.
So, if he'd raped and tortured them both, that would be hunky dory?
Prosecutor: Minn. homeowner lay in wait for teen burglars
After their deaths, authorities said a car linked to Brady and Kifer contained prescription drugs that had been stolen from another house, apparently the day before they were killed. Court documents from another case show Brady had burglarized Smith's property at least twice in the months before he was killed.
So these low life f**ks were are on a roll. Hardly angelic little virgins. Did you know that these two were involved in sports? Awww... Cute little bastards.
The dead bitch was on the phone during the break in.
To whom? Her fence? (That's a criminal that buys stolen goods from thieves).
The wheel man? (That's the getaway driver).
Her dope dealer? Did she sell her stolen drugs or just take them?
Were they under the influence of drugs of the time of her death? Where's the toxicology report?
Was she calling Mommy and Daddy to let them know that Thanksgiving dinner was swell?
Meanwhile, wonder boy next door, saw a camera and proceeded anyways? Was this drug induced action or were they just naturally f**king stupid?
What the home owner did was out of fear and disgust. The cops failed to catch Little Boy Wonder from the previous break ins.
Yep, fear, remorse and guilt. First degree murder, no way, not if I was on the jury.
Burglary is a dangerous business. I knew a guy in high school that tried it. He got away with it a few times. Until he and his buddy fell for a stake out that the county sheriff set up. Here he was face down on the floor, busted. Pissed off, he pounded his fist on the floor and cursed. He said the cop then pressed a shotgun against his ear and told him any more s**t like that and he'd blow his f**king head off. That cured him of his burglary career. I guess he was lucky.
It does make you wonder. How many times do criminals exercise such restraint when the tables are turned the other way round.
What happened to them was their fault by their initiation of theft. They broke into this guys house, and not for the first time. The authorities did nothing effective, as usual.
So we come to this. There was no overt malice here. He just defended his home and took out the trash. There will be no recidivism problem here.
Drug addicts thieving to support their habit are nothing to mourn when they meet a sticky end.
Interesting thought. Can not a Homeowner take pleasure in disposing of a burglar? In early Roman law a creditor could cut up his defaulting debtor and even enjoy it. Have we not extended too much pity for the Felon? Does a just man feel pity for a criminal receiving punishment. Indeed a person feeling pity for a properly convicted criminal seems to be an unjust man as the criminal is in fact receiving his due and justice is giving each man his due. Perhaps we have degenerated in expressing too much concern for the criminal. I do not insist I simply wonder!
“He may have set a trap for them but THEY entered HIS house for the sole purpose of robbing it..game..set..match..you do the crime, you pay the price”
I so agree. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I would have shot her........making the rest of your silly comments irrelevant........
This is Minnesota. Here you get to keep the stolen goods and get a pre-completed voter registration card for Al Franken.
You’re going to get a lot of crap for this from people who claim to be prolife.
good info.
I bet the judge will disallow the jury from learning it.
Exactly..they broke into HIS house..once you enter someone’s home for the sole purpose of robbing it, what happens to that person is his/her own fault
He forgot the 2nd and 3rd S’s.
Bump for taking the trash out . The lowest from of life is a thief.
So you would have shot a teenage girl whom you knew to be unarmed.
I hope you don't consider yourself either a gentleman or a Christian.
Ironic, isn't it?
Do you have a logical argument for that statement?
Or a Scriptural one?
She had marijuana and cough medicine in her system. He was clean.
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