Posted on 04/29/2014 1:57:58 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP/WCCO) — The Little Falls, Minn. man who shot and killed two teenagers after they broke into his home has been found guilty of all four counts of premeditated murder. After roughly three hours of deliberation, the jury found 65-year-old Byron Smith guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder for the shooting deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady.
(Excerpt) Read more at minnesota.cbslocal.com ...
He has one of those gold plated federal government pensions with full medical care -- the finest taxpayers can buy.
Hmmm, good point, I didn't put 1 and 1 together. Well, if you subtract the need for prison medical care, then the existence of the audio tape proves insanity, as far as I'm concerned. He planned the whole thing out, and made sure he'd be convicted and given the maximum sentence for it because of the tape. He could plan it out of rage and righteousness and give a cover story, OR he could make sure he got convicted with his own recorded evidence. But both at the same time cancel each other out. That's insanity, in my book.
Which means those kids screwed with the wrong guy. A guy with mental problems, rage problems, whatever, who they provoked, and who popped his corked and then popped them and then told the world about it with his own methodical voice. That's insanity.
Of course, if he had just shot the boy and called the police, he'd be free and no one would bother his house for a good long time.
But I think he got a chance to do what he most wanted to do: murder a helpless girl with his face close to hers while cursing at her, and then spend a night with her body in his house.
If only all housebreakers could meet the same fate.
Soon there would be no more housebreakers.
Simple as that - he thought of his local police force as bunglers who were helpless in tracking down garden variety burglars.
And what he did doesn't do a thing for his reputation in prison. He may be a supertough, coldblooded guy when it comes to shooting wounded, helpless girls - but without his guns, he's just a fragile old coot in prison.
It *was* totally rational for the homeowner to *fear* that one or both of the punks were armed and fear can,*totally* understandably,lead to irrational acts.///
Not arguing with you but if he felt safe enough to put a gun under their chin and pull the trigger, he should have felt safe enough to make a call to 911.
JMO
The guy had 32 years of security engineering experience with the State Department specializing in alarms.
Where were the security measures in his house particularly the alarms.
How hard is it to rig up an alarm to sound when glass is broken or motion is detected.
And yet this 32 year security specialist had no alarms on his house.
Why???
Because he didn’t want to scare them or warn them away.
He wanted them to get into his house where he could shoot and taunt and torture and kill them with impunity as the cold blooded psycho that he is.
That’s part of what the jury saw.
Thrill killers like Smith usually meet his fate - but there are still plenty of thrill killers.
Then our prisons would be full of Byron Smith worshipping homeowners.
Here’s the question I asked on another thread: Would it have been alright if he had raped and tortured the pair for days before they died? Why not? If their lives were forfeit the minute they walked into his house and his to do with as he wished, what’s the difference between raping and torturing the girl and wrapping her, already bleeding from three wounds, in a tarp, propping her next to her dead cousin, retrieving another gun and whispering “bitch” in her ear before putting a bullet through her brain?
They could have healed and come after him for shooting them...They were still a threat as long as they were living...
The idea of hurting those who were terrorizing him likely wasn't a consideration...He wanted to eliminate the terrorism, permanently so he could live in peace...
That is where he crossed the line.
If he wanted to kill them, just go for the head shot and be done with it.
Five, six, rounds into someone, and then, when they are begging for their life, cold-bloodedly finish them off? That reeks of the same sort of anger someone who stabs a victim 40 or 50 times has.
I'm not even saying his anger wasn't justified--but acting on it to the extent he did was not.
I probably would have sided with the old timer...The girl had the opportunity to leave when she heard all the shooting...One can only guess why she ran to the shots instead of away from them...
They broke into this guy's house before, and many others...If the police won't deal with it are we required to just let it happen??? I'll bet the other people who were robbed by this couple are kind of happy the threat is gone...
It's hilarious to me that you like to pretend to be a Christian.
I have no idea how to respond to your level of ignorance.
See ya!
He was not screaming or raging - he was calm, collected and making wry wisecracks as he murdered them.
He was having fun.
I think he would have been angry if they never showed up and all his preparations had been for naught.
They could have healed and come after him for shooting them...They were still a threat as long as they were living
Oh gezzz...
wow...
I recall reading that they had broken into his home before and stolen guns, among other things, and that the male decedent had posted a pic of himself on a Facebook page--with the stolen guns.
This wasn't the teens' first rodeo, either.
Not if you insist on selectively editing a response to suit your world view. That is dishonest.
Well I’m agreeing that we’re looking at a psycho. But there is a serious aggravation componant. He didn’t go outside of his house. The victims came to him, specifically to commit a crime against him which easily could have included assault and perhaps murder.
People are not required to be sane, or even nice. Cross into their personal space, into their homes, and they have the right of self defense. If they are crazy and feel persecuted, they could set a trap and then do what this guy did. But it’s not enticement. It’s insane, but the perps had a heavy hand in driving him over the edge, and he didn’t go outside of his house.
First degree is ridiculous. Second degree is possible, but there’s so much evidence of insanity, I’d say the insanity trumps the criminal charge. I’d send him to a psych ward, and check to see if he could be certified in some way as harmless, so that he could return to his home. If he’s been permanently made a danger, that’s one thing. If he reacted crazy to a threat that drove him over the edge and was self-contained, that’s another.
This guy was not looking for trouble, and that’s the main point. Trouble came to him. There’s a video out of a cop doing a carotid strangulation on a guy being held in cuffs, who is not resisting. What if that guy died - as he easily could have. Would the cop be held for insanity? Why not - he did the same thing as this guy, looked straight at his victim and then cut off the blood to his brain, and then smack him when he collapsed unconscious. except the cop went looking for trouble, whereas this guy stayed home. Can you imagine what would happen to teenage burglers if they broke into this cop’s home?
The extinction of homebreakers means no more homebreakers get shot.
Is the logic too difficult for you? I apologize.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.