News Minnesota man who killed teens in break-in charged with murder - Page 34

NIUhuskies · 11-27-2012, 04:56 PM

wow, this sounds pretty messed up... Cant tell if his guy is nuts or if these kids were on drugs

By NBC News staff and wire services

A 64-year-old Minnesota man was charged Monday with murder for killing two teenagers who he said broke into his Little Falls home, shooting them in the head, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

AP file

Byron David Smith was arrested after he told police he shot and killed two teenagers who he said were breaking into his home on Thanksgiving Day.

"If you're trying to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again," Byron David Smith of Little Falls told investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

Smith was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Haile Kifer, 18, and her cousin, Nicholas Brady, 17, both of Little Falls. The teens were shot on Thanksgiving Day, but their deaths weren't reported until Friday.
Advertise | AdChoices

Brady has also used the name Schaeffel, which is his mother’s maiden name, at times for family reasons, according to the sheriff's office.

In the criminal complaint, Smith said he was in the basement of his remote home about 10 miles southwest of Little Falls when he heard a window breaking upstairs, followed by footsteps that eventually approached the basement stairwell. Fearful after several break-ins, according to the complaint, Smith said he fired when Brady came into view from the waist down.

After the teen fell down the stairs, Smith said he shot him in the face as he lay on the floor.

"I want him dead," the complaint quoted Smith telling an investigator.

Smith said he dragged Brady's body into his basement workshop, then sat back down on his chair, and after a few minutes Kifer began coming down the stairs. He said he shot her as soon as her hips appeared, and she fell down the steps.

Smith said he tried to shoot her again with his Mini 14 rifle, but that the gun jammed and Kifer laughed at him.

"Smith stated that it was not a very long laugh because she was already hurting," according to the complaint.

Smith said he then shot Kifer in the chest several times with a .22-caliber revolver, dragged her next to Brady, and with her still gasping for air, fired a shot under her chin "up into the cranium."

"Smith described it as 'a good clean finishing shot,'" according to the compliant, but also that he acknowledged he had fired "more shots than (he) needed to."

The following day he asked a neighbor to recommend a good lawyer, according to the complaint. He later asked his neighbor to call the police.

A prosecutor called Smith's reaction "appalling."

"Mr. Smith intentionally killed two teenagers in his home in a matter that goes well beyond self-defense," Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf said after Smith appeared at Morrison County District Court on Monday morning. Bail was set at $2 million.

Follow @NBCNewsUS

Minnesota law allows a homeowner to use deadly force on an intruder if a reasonable person would fear they're in danger of harm. Smith told investigators he was afraid the intruders might have a weapon.

Smith's actions "sound like an execution" rather than legitimate self-defense, said David Pecchia, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. Pecchia said his statements to investigators suggest he had eliminated any threat to his safety by wounding the cousins.

Smith's brother, Bruce Smith, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that the incident was the eighth burglary at Byron Smith's home in recent years.

The only report the Morrison County sheriff's office has for a break-in at the home was for one on Oct. 27. It shows Byron Smith reported losing cash and gold coins worth $9,200, plus two guns worth $200 each, photo equipment worth more than $3,000 and a ring worth $300.

Little Falls is about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

Brady's sister, Crystal Schaeffel, told the Star Tribune that Kifer had broken into her home before. Little Falls police records show Crystal Schaeffel reported a theft Aug. 28, but the department said the report was not public because that investigation was continuing and because it named juveniles.

Tessa Ruth, an aunt of Brady, attended Smith's hearing. She told the Star Tribune she wished the man had fired a warning shot or alerted the police instead of shooting the teens.

"It wasn't right for them to be there and, yes, he had a right to defend himself. But to execute them like that..."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...th-murder?lite

Cannibal · 04-25-2014, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

I consider myself atleast half redneck and I don't see it that way... the old man was in his own home, which had already been burglarized atleast twice, possibly by these very kids...

His final actions were garbage and he deserves to spend a good bit of time in prison, at his age any significant sentence could mean life, but I've come around to some degree... defend your home at all costs.

But smart ass one liners as they lay dying in front of him and "finishing shots" just before tucking into bed for a good nights rest, represent a deranged man not in control of his faculties.

So you're being reasonable? You're not in the redneck, I want him to get off category then.

Cannibal · 04-25-2014, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

I don't want the guy to get off. I'm just glad there are to less scumbags in the world and hopefully one less crazy guy on the streets. Like I said earlier, win win.

Agreed... reasonable.

**Easy 6** · 04-25-2014, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cannibal

So you're being reasonable? You're not in the redneck, I want him to get off category then.

On second thought, my post didn't make a damn bit of sense... but when they're lying bloody on the floor gasping for air, you simply don't get to go up and execute them face to face with a BS line like "oh I'm sorry, you're dead".

He went from scared old homeowner to sadisitic old **** with his actions.

Just Passin' By · 04-25-2014, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brainiac

They are the same in two important ways that are relevant to this conversation: the death penalty is not an appropriate punishment for any of those things, and those are things that could piss off a nutty sociopath.

Maybe you believe the death penalty IS appropriate for someone who commits multiple home thefts. I don't. And I'm a firm believer in the death penalty. But not for a couple of teenagers who committed a non-violent crime.

I believe in the right to protect your person, those around you and your property. I'm not sure what you think used to happen throughout history, but it wasn't generally a case of homeowners giving the thieves some milk and cookies before giving them a calm ride home. It also wasn't something that states (or countries) took lightly.

The second known execution in the U.S. (then colonies) was for theft, and horse thieves were often hanged without a trial.

Not only that, but the idea of execution for theft was not something that only stayed in a small area:

Quote:

By the start of the American Revolution, the death penalty was used in all 13 colonies. Rhode Island was the only colony that did not have at least 10 crimes punishable by death. The colonies had "roughly comparable death statutes which covered arson, piracy, treason, murder, sodomy, burglary, robbery, rape, horse-stealing, slave rebellion, and often counterfeiting. Hanging was the usual sentence.

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view....5#2010-present

Al Bundy · 04-25-2014, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott free

On second thought, my post didn't make a damn bit of sense... but when they're lying bloody on the floor gasping for air, you simply don't get to go up and execute them face to face with a BS line like "oh I'm sorry, you're dead".

He went from scared old homeowner to sadisitic old **** with his actions.

100%

Jimmya · 04-25-2014, 11:52 PM

Our history shows what our fore father's thought about thieves!

**jjchieffan** · 04-26-2014, 07:23 AM

Do I like his final actions? No. But I also feel no compassion for the dead thieves. If you break into someone's house, then you just put yourself at that risk. Thieves are scum. They deserve what they got. They can burn in hell now for all I care.

R8RFAN · 04-26-2014, 08:22 AM

This is pre meditated 1st degree murder in my mind..
Your responsibility as a gun owner is to stop the threat to you or the life of your family.

Just Passin' By · 04-26-2014, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rd&48ers

This is pre meditated 1st degree murder in my mind..
Your responsibility as a gun owner is to stop the threat to you or the life of your family.

He surely stopped the threat.

MIAdragon · 04-26-2014, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

He surely stopped the threat.

Without anointing yourself the judge, jury and executioner.

Just Passin' By · 04-26-2014, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MIAdragon

Without anointing yourself the judge, jury and executioner.

In a self defense case, you anoint yourself judge, jury and executioner by default. The criminal system becomes the appellate court

ForeverChiefs58 · 04-26-2014, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rd&48ers

This is pre meditated 1st degree murder in my mind..
Your responsibility as a gun owner is to stop the threat to you or the life of your family.

I believe there is no premeditation if it all depends on the criminals actions.

Home owners actually do have the right to "lay, wait and actually ambush" a criminal committing a felony against them like Rambo in the Vietnam jungle.

I think the prosecution is overreaching on the premeditation evidence personally

**lewdog** · 04-26-2014, 01:33 PM

So if you lay in wait because your property has been vandalized before and you know it's happening again, and when it does, you decide you are going to kill these people who keep breaking into your property, that is premeditated? I'm pretty sure most of us would want to kill any ****er that tries to come into any of our homes uninvited. Hell, someone breaks in and you shoot them but not kill them, homeowners have been sued for that before as well! Since when did someone breaking into someone else's property have more rights than the homeowner? You break into someone's house, you get anything that's coming to you. These aren't 5 year old children. They know the possible consequences of their actions. I grew up in Montana and be damn sure something so much as trespassing on any land would be liable to get you shot from the owner.

**Bowser** · 04-26-2014, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

In a self defense case, you anoint yourself judge, jury and executioner by default. The criminal system becomes the appellate court

That applies to when someone comes at you with a knife/gun in your house and you cap them in the head for their troubles. I don't think that applies to what this guy did.

**lewdog** · 04-26-2014, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

That applies to when someone comes at you with a knife/gun in your house and you cap them in the head for their troubles. I don't think that applies to what this guy did.

Are you supposed to wait to see if the intruder has a weapon once they are inside your home?

Not everyone has a draw like John Wayne when presented with gun a pointed at you. I don't think I'd wait to find out.

11-27-2012, 04:56 PM
NIUhuskies Veteran Join Date: May 2005 Location: Chicago, IL Casino cash: $8415050	Minnesota man who killed teens in break-in charged with murder wow, this sounds pretty messed up... Cant tell if his guy is nuts or if these kids were on drugs By NBC News staff and wire services A 64-year-old Minnesota man was charged Monday with murder for killing two teenagers who he said broke into his Little Falls home, shooting them in the head, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. AP file Byron David Smith was arrested after he told police he shot and killed two teenagers who he said were breaking into his home on Thanksgiving Day. "If you're trying to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again," Byron David Smith of Little Falls told investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday. Smith was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Haile Kifer, 18, and her cousin, Nicholas Brady, 17, both of Little Falls. The teens were shot on Thanksgiving Day, but their deaths weren't reported until Friday. Advertise \| AdChoices Brady has also used the name Schaeffel, which is his mother’s maiden name, at times for family reasons, according to the sheriff's office. In the criminal complaint, Smith said he was in the basement of his remote home about 10 miles southwest of Little Falls when he heard a window breaking upstairs, followed by footsteps that eventually approached the basement stairwell. Fearful after several break-ins, according to the complaint, Smith said he fired when Brady came into view from the waist down. After the teen fell down the stairs, Smith said he shot him in the face as he lay on the floor. "I want him dead," the complaint quoted Smith telling an investigator. Smith said he dragged Brady's body into his basement workshop, then sat back down on his chair, and after a few minutes Kifer began coming down the stairs. He said he shot her as soon as her hips appeared, and she fell down the steps. Smith said he tried to shoot her again with his Mini 14 rifle, but that the gun jammed and Kifer laughed at him. "Smith stated that it was not a very long laugh because she was already hurting," according to the complaint. Smith said he then shot Kifer in the chest several times with a .22-caliber revolver, dragged her next to Brady, and with her still gasping for air, fired a shot under her chin "up into the cranium." "Smith described it as 'a good clean finishing shot,'" according to the compliant, but also that he acknowledged he had fired "more shots than (he) needed to." The following day he asked a neighbor to recommend a good lawyer, according to the complaint. He later asked his neighbor to call the police. A prosecutor called Smith's reaction "appalling." "Mr. Smith intentionally killed two teenagers in his home in a matter that goes well beyond self-defense," Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf said after Smith appeared at Morrison County District Court on Monday morning. Bail was set at $2 million. Follow @NBCNewsUS Minnesota law allows a homeowner to use deadly force on an intruder if a reasonable person would fear they're in danger of harm. Smith told investigators he was afraid the intruders might have a weapon. Smith's actions "sound like an execution" rather than legitimate self-defense, said David Pecchia, executive director of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association. Pecchia said his statements to investigators suggest he had eliminated any threat to his safety by wounding the cousins. Smith's brother, Bruce Smith, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that the incident was the eighth burglary at Byron Smith's home in recent years. The only report the Morrison County sheriff's office has for a break-in at the home was for one on Oct. 27. It shows Byron Smith reported losing cash and gold coins worth $9,200, plus two guns worth $200 each, photo equipment worth more than $3,000 and a ring worth $300. Little Falls is about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Brady's sister, Crystal Schaeffel, told the Star Tribune that Kifer had broken into her home before. Little Falls police records show Crystal Schaeffel reported a theft Aug. 28, but the department said the report was not public because that investigation was continuing and because it named juveniles. Tessa Ruth, an aunt of Brady, attended Smith's hearing. She told the Star Tribune she wished the man had fired a warning shot or alerted the police instead of shooting the teens. "It wasn't right for them to be there and, yes, he had a right to defend himself. But to execute them like that..." http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...th-murder?lite
Posts: 1,036

04-25-2014, 11:52 PM	#501
Jimmya Veteran Join Date: Dec 2012 Casino cash: $10024530	Our history shows what our fore father's thought about thieves!
Posts: 2,743

04-26-2014, 07:23 AM	#502
jjchieffan Supporter Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Highlandville, MO Casino cash: $3302247	Do I like his final actions? No. But I also feel no compassion for the dead thieves. If you break into someone's house, then you just put yourself at that risk. Thieves are scum. They deserve what they got. They can burn in hell now for all I care. __________________ Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. Following the historical accounts and the genealogy from that point on, the age of the Earth is approximately 6000-7000 years old. The Big Bullshit Theory is a lie. It and the evolution theory go against real science. Satan has used our public school system to brainwash everyone into believing these lies. Be not decieved.
Posts: 12,613

04-26-2014, 08:22 AM	#503
R8RFAN Molôn Labé Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: North Carolina Casino cash: $8566872	This is pre meditated 1st degree murder in my mind.. Your responsibility as a gun owner is to stop the threat to you or the life of your family.
Posts: 23,164

04-26-2014, 01:33 PM	#508
lewdog Mod Team Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Valley of the hot as **** Casino cash: $1801900	So if you lay in wait because your property has been vandalized before and you know it's happening again, and when it does, you decide you are going to kill these people who keep breaking into your property, that is premeditated? I'm pretty sure most of us would want to kill any ****er that tries to come into any of our homes uninvited. Hell, someone breaks in and you shoot them but not kill them, homeowners have been sued for that before as well! Since when did someone breaking into someone else's property have more rights than the homeowner? You break into someone's house, you get anything that's coming to you. These aren't 5 year old children. They know the possible consequences of their actions. I grew up in Montana and be damn sure something so much as trespassing on any land would be liable to get you shot from the owner.
Posts: 45,607