Where did the audio recording come from? 911?
It would be hard to prove pre-meditated murder in this case unless he had them tied up and subdued, and then decided not to wait on the cops.
Having intruders possibly armed and roaming your house is a threat to life and property.
I am truly shocked at the verdict. What am I missing?
He had laid it all out as a trap for the teens: hid his car, and read a book while waiting for them. He shot them each about six times with a rifle, one after the other. He could have easily captured them or had the police set up a trap but clearly he wanted them dead. That’s premeditated murder.
Where did the audio recording come from? 911?
The killer set up an audio recorder to capture the killings on tape. Classy.
If I told you what you're missing you'd be quite offended, so I won't.
Unless you're in some brutal war zone where ya can't take prisoners, ya don't execute those who are clearly down, severely wounded and no longer a threat.
A number of details.
He parked his truck several blocks away and turned off all his lights, because he was sure the intruders only entered homes they were certain were empty of people. He also bought tarps to use as shrouds before he moved his truck.
He rearranged the furniture in his basement so he could fire from concealment, and he stayed in his hiding place with his cameras, food, drink, and reading material for at least six hours.
While he was waiting he had audiotape running, in which he could be heard practicing what he would say to the police and to his lawyer.
He had the intruders under video surveillance before they entered the home, and watched them for a long time searching for valuables, which he had already secured down in the basement.
He did not call the police.
When the first teen came down the basement stairs, he fired at him from cover. After he went down, he walked over to the gutshot teen and said calmly: "you're dead" and then fired a killing blow. Then he wrapped him up in a tarp and hid his body in the next room, went back to his hiding place and waited for the girl.
When she came to the top of the stairs and called the boy's name, he shot her and she fell down the stairs. He walked up to her and calmly said: "Oh, so sorry about that." Then he shot her twice more in the chest.
Then he wrapped her up in a tarp while she was still breathing.
He went into the next room and got a new weapon, and then took a minute to place a gun under her chin and whisper abuse to her before he finished her off.
Then he made himself some dinner, watched some TV and went to sleep. The next morning he got up, went about his usual routine and asked his neighbor if he knew a good lawyer.
His neighbor called the police, not Smith. He just sat there with bodies in his house for over 24 hours.
A bunch of things. He audio and video recorded the event, and not only shot one of them, but dragged him into another room and shot him again. And this was just the tip of the iceberg, because he fouled up again and again.
He called them “vermin”, which showed their was an emotional context to this, thus clearly premeditated.