After reading the first 100 postings, I’ll add my 2 cents worth. This is a very complicated case.
First, Mr. Byron Smith does not live in a suburb. He lives in a rural area outside the small central Minnesota town of Little Falls. This area had been experiencing numerous burglaries, with no hint that the Morrison County sheriff’s office was getting anywhere in resolving the problem of who was responsible for the home break-ins. Apparently Mr. Smith had experienced several break-ins including one the previous summer when several of his rifles were stolen. In fact, photos of Brady posing with Smith’s rifles have now begun circulating in the news stories.
The day before Thanksgiving 2012, another home was invaded, and prescription drugs were stolen. Following the death of Nicolas Brady, his car was impounded and the stolen prescription drugs from the previous day’s burglary were recovered from his vehicle.
Now a bit of information on the two perpetrators of the burglaries. Nicholas Brady, age 17, and a cousin of Haile Kifer, age 18, was attending HS in Pillager, MN for the 2012 school year. He had been at the Little Falls HS previously. The news has never mentioned why he moved to the Pillager HS, and no mention has been made as to the current domicile of his parents. Nor are we made aware of whether NIcholas’s parents were still together, i.e. did Nicholas have an intact home?
Haile Kifer was a student who was into gymnastics and some other HS activities, but also was involved in felonious conduct with her cousin, Nicholas. She seemed to be fully engaged in the burglaries and willing to continue this life-style. The news media seems to have a gag order on Haile’s family. We know she was still attending Little Falls HS in November 2012.
A friend of Nicholas Brady’s claimed that he had helped Nicholas scope out the Smith home during one of the burglaries, in that this friend was being a watchman for Brady, keeping the burglar informed if there was any sign of the homeowner returning. This boy also admitted that they had been scoping out several homes in Sartell, Minnesota, a prosperous suburb of St. Cloud, MN. To add insult to injury, this boy, who assisted Nicholas Brady, had formerly been employed by Mr. Smith doing yard work, etc.
Apparently Smith had some premonition that his house was about to be burglarized again. Not much information has come out about this fact. But, this would explain the how and the reason why Byron Smith decided to set up surveillance cameras and tape recorders around his home. Smith has stated that he wanted proof of who the perpetrators were.
So, when we get to the day of the burglary, and the deaths of Brady and Kifer - it can easily be imagined that Smith’s emotions were running on adrenaline. Being a rural resident, he could certainly be allowed to have an excessive fear for his life.
So, on the day of the event. we are looking at three people, none of whom are totally innocent, But. Mr. Smith’s home was invaded, and he did have a legitimate cause to defend himself and his domicile. Brady and Kifer had absolutely no legitimate reason to be inside Mr. Smith’s house.
This all resulted in a situation which was certain to be a tragedy on all sides. Two foolish, criminal, kids invade the home of a man who has guns [The kids ought to have known that since they had stolen rifles from him the previous summer.] But, they persisted, and without any sense of fear or shame, ended up confronting the irate homeowner.
Given Mr. Smith’s history, and temperament, this was not going to end well. If Smith had been stable in mind and body on that day, he would have injured the burglars and called the sheriff’s office. But he didn’t, and Smith continues to mutter under his breath about the awful perps getting what they had coming, etc..
Rational people look at the evidence and think Smith is either a cold-blood murderer or is an unbalanced person, bent on revenge.
This is the crux of the problem. A lot of people have totally mixed emotions about the whole affair. They don’t necessarily place much blame on Smith’s shoulders, as to them they can understand and empathize with him.
Still many observers say he did “overkill” in his continued shooting of the teens after they were immobilized. Judge Napolitano thinks that Smith has the stronger position than the prosecution, and that a First Degree murder indictment is too harsh. He thinks a Second Degree or Manslaughter is as good as the prosecution can expect.
It will eventually sort itself out. But, the rest of the story is still hidden form out views.
Thanks for an excellent and balanced post.