Minnesota man who killed teens in break-in charged with murder

[NIUhuskies]

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.
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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.

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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

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

You guys are assuming that this guy is a model citizen when he's not killing people who break into his house. I assume he is a sociopath who would have no problem killing anyone who pissed him off. I think I could probably resist the temptation to break into his house, but I'm not quite so confident in my ability to avoid ever pissing him off. What if my sons are playing catch and the baseball goes into his yard? What if my dog gets out and takes a shit on his lawn? What if my son is playing his car stereo too loud? Do my family members deserve the death penalty for things like that?

If you would be just fine living next door to a sociopathic killer, then by all means please feel free to do so.

Let me help you here. Don't trespass on another person's property. If you must go on someone's land, get permission first, or at least take the proper pathway straight to the entry door, unless they've previously given you clear waiver.

If you can't figure that out, you're probably too stupid to live.

See? Easy peasy.

[displacedinMN]

Friday Apr 25

A Minnesota man who killed two teenagers after they broke into his home had reason to believe he was in danger because a gun was stolen from his home, his attorney argued Friday in front of a crowded courtroom.

Byron Smith, of Little Falls, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and Kifer's cousin, 17-year-old Nick Brady, on Thanksgiving Day 2012. Smith, 65, claimed he was defending himself and feared for his life after several break-ins at his home.
On Friday, Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel was asked about an incident where a "mystery man" led him to a shotgun stolen from Smith's home. The shotgun was found in a secluded swamp area.

Steve Meshbesher, Smith's attorney, said Smith was worried someone could come back to his home and shoot him with his own gun.
Smith was alone when the teens broke in and didn't alert anyone about the shootings until the next day.

The neighbor who called police also testified Friday. He said Smith asked him over the phone to call an attorney and said "I may have solved the break-ins."
The neighbor also said a month before the shootings, Smith had gone to the neighbor's home and was upset. It was around this time Smith had firearms stolen from his home. The neighbor said the pair talked about how break-ins were a problem

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

You guys are assuming that this guy is a model citizen when he's not killing people who break into his house. I assume he is a sociopath who would have no problem killing anyone who pissed him off. I think I could probably resist the temptation to break into his house, but I'm not quite so confident in my ability to avoid ever pissing him off. What if my sons are playing catch and the baseball goes into his yard? What if my dog gets out and takes a shit on his lawn? What if my son is playing his car stereo too loud? Do my family members deserve the death penalty for things like that?

If you would be just fine living next door to a sociopathic killer, then by all means please feel free to do so.

I haven't followed the thread religiously. Do we know if his neighbors were afraid of him? Did he have a previous police record? Was he openly weird and hostile? I haven't read anything about that stuff, so I guess I'm assuming that these weren't part of his history.

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I haven't followed the thread religiously. Do we know if his neighbors were afraid of him? Did he have a previous police record? Was he openly weird and hostile? I haven't read anything about that stuff, so I guess I'm assuming that these weren't part of his history.

I don't know. His actions in this case give me enough information to conclude that I would not want him as a neighbor.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I haven't followed the thread religiously. Do we know if his neighbors were afraid of him? Did he have a previous police record? Was he openly weird and hostile? I haven't read anything about that stuff, so I guess I'm assuming that these weren't part of his history.

I have never seen or heard of that in the news.
Reserved, yes, If I remember right, ex military and consulted govt agencies.
Did not sound hostile,

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

Let me help you here. Don't trespass on another person's property. If you must go on someone's land, get permission first, or at least take the proper pathway straight to the entry door, unless they've previously given you clear waiver.

If you can't figure that out, you're probably too stupid to live.

See? Easy peasy.

Re-read my post. You obviously didn't understand it the first time.

[In58men]

This is still being talked about? JFC

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

I don't know. His actions in this case give me enough information to conclude that I would not want him as a neighbor.

He's clearly not ideal in that respect.

[Easy 6]

The man had reason to be fearful, he'd had a little Trayvon Martin bust into his place atleast twice that I'm aware of... arm yourself, be wary, shoot at the first mfer that comes into view, YES.

But once they're down, you do NOT have the right to ensure that EMT's will never get the chance to save them... breaking into a home is not a death penalty case.

If they die due to your great initial aim, then so be it... but "finishing" shots are a pile of horseshit, getting a good nights sleep before reporting your finishing shot is an even bigger pile of horseshit.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

This is still being talked about? JFC

The updates or the argument?
I can stop updates if you want to let it go.

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by Brainiac

Re-read my post. You obviously didn't understand it the first time.

I understood it fine. Are you honestly going to try equating your dog running over someone's lawn, or your kids getting a baseball from someone's yard, with someone committing multiple home thefts?

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

I understood it fine. Are you honestly going to try equating your dog running over someone's lawn, or your kids getting a baseball from someone's yard, with someone committing multiple home thefts?

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.

[Cannibal]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

This is still being talked about? JFC

The rednecks are desperate for this **** to get off. It's the only reason this is a story. Similar to the Zimmerman trial.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

The rednecks are desperate for this **** to get off. It's the only reason this is a story. Similar to the Zimmerman trial.

I consider myself atleast half redneck and I don't see it that way... yes indeed, the old man was in his own home, which had already been burglarized atleast twice, possibly by these very kids, he had a right to defend with deadly force...

Yet his final actions were garbage and he deserves to spend a good bit of time in prison, even though at his age any significant sentence could mean life.

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.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

The rednecks are desperate for this **** to get off. It's the only reason this is a story. Similar to the Zimmerman trial.

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