Free Republic

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. – A Minnesota homeowner who shot and killed two teenagers during a break-in was convicted Tuesday of premeditated murder. Bryon Smith had claimed he was simply defending himself during the break-in at his home in the small city of Little Falls on Thanksgiving Day 2012. Smith's attorney said the 65-year-old was fearful after previous burglaries. But prosecutors argued that Smith waited in his basement and intended to kill the teens. A total of nine shots were fired at 17-year-old Nick Brady and 18-year-old Haile Kifer. Jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning and within three hours had a verdict:...

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.

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...

<p>Robitussin and Coricidin are becoming popular recreational drugs nationwide with at least five deaths reported in the past two years, but Tucson drugstores and doctors say they see no problem here.</p> <p>Emergency rooms and schools across the nation are reporting that waves of youths are overdosing on nonprescription cough and cold medicines widely available in drugstores and supermarkets. The dozens of overdoses in the past two years - including at least five deaths in which the abuse of over-the-counter medicines was a factor - reflect how medicines such as Robitussin and Coricidin are becoming more popular as recreational drugs for kids as young as 12, police and doctors say.</p>