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

[Lzen]

Playing devil's advocate here. People suggested the kids would later sue. Well, how about if, after he shot them the kids were threatening to come back and kill him later on? Or perhaps they had been threatening him in the months prior? I'm not saying I could just shoot someone in cold blood while they are laying there bleeding and dying. But what if these wonderful kids had driven him over the edge?

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Playing devil's advocate here. People suggested the kids would later sue. Well, how about if, after he shot them the kids were threatening to come back and kill him later on? Or perhaps they had been threatening him in the months prior? I'm not saying I could just shoot someone in cold blood while they are laying there bleeding and dying. But what if these wonderful kids had driven him over the edge?

OR we could look at the facts as they are.

Just throwing that out there...

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

that's why it's best to empty the gun and not stop shooting.

not entirely true.


my wife's real father killed a guy in his house about 11 years ago.

the guy actually shot him at the same time but FIL didnt stop until the gun was empty. they tried like hell to charge him with something, and it took him over a year to get his gun back

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by tooge

Two druggie thief teenagers are dead because they broke into a guys house who had a gun. That's it. End of story. They are dead. It doesn't matter if they would have died with the first shot or later, they are dead.

pretty much none of this. Exactly the opposite, actually.

[saphojunkie]

I am shocked and saddened that so many of you believe that a couple of kids breaking into a house (which I venture a lot of you have done just as a goof) deserved to be executed.

Even if they DID intend to steal. Really? They deserve to be executed for stealing? Thanks, Al Qaeda.

WTF is wrong with you hillbillies?

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

I am shocked and saddened that so many of you believe that a couple of kids breaking into a house (which I venture a lot of you have done just as a goof) deserved to be executed.

Even if they DID intend to steal. Really? They deserve to be executed for stealing? Thanks, Al Qaeda.

WTF is wrong with you hillbillies?

what if he was home and not ready when they showed up? do you think they would have just left?

i know some guys i grew up with that are both serving life for killing a WWII vet that had hired them to mow his lawn. they came back and thought he was gone and broke in.

he was home and they laid him on his face and blew his head off for TEN ****ING DOLLARS.

**** people like that

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

pretty much none of this. Exactly the opposite, actually.

So the guy should've done what? Either shot them in the chest to begin with, resulting in death, or shot them in the leg and called the cops, resulting in the possibility that he gets sued, or, not knowing if they are concealing a weapon, he gets killed. I'd do the same thing except I'd have waited a for the intruders to take a few more steps down to make sure it was a vital shot.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by tooge

So the guy should've done what? Either shot them in the chest to begin with, resulting in death, or shot them in the leg and called the cops, resulting in the possibility that he gets sued, or, not knowing if they are concealing a weapon, he gets killed. I'd do the same thing except I'd have waited a for the intruders to take a few more steps down to make sure it was a vital shot.

yep, and used a bigger gun.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Playing devil's advocate here. People suggested the kids would later sue. Well, how about if, after he shot them the kids were threatening to come back and kill him later on? Or perhaps they had been threatening him in the months prior? I'm not saying I could just shoot someone in cold blood while they are laying there bleeding and dying. But what if these wonderful kids had driven him over the edge?

Even people driven "over the edge" don't have an excuse to murder people. They go to jail for it.

Just like this guy probably should.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

yep, and used a bigger gun.

Bingo. People need to be aware of societal norms in the times they live in. These are scary times. People are armed and more trigger happy than ever. People are more on edge and stressed out than ever. Look at the cases of road rage for example.

You simply don't brake into another persons house. Period. If you do, you have to know that in todays world, there is a good chance you encounter an armed homeowner that will shoot to kill you.

Is it tragic? Sure it is. I'm sure the intruders had people that loved them. That doesn't change the fact that they were in the wrong to begin with.

[tooge]

break, i know.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by tooge

Bingo. People need to be aware of societal norms in the times they live in. These are scary times. People are armed and more trigger happy than ever. People are more on edge and stressed out than ever. Look at the cases of road rage for example.

You simply don't brake into another persons house. Period. If you do, you have to know that in todays world, there is a good chance you encounter an armed homeowner that will shoot to kill you.

Is it tragic? Sure it is. I'm sure the intruders had people that loved them. That doesn't change the fact that they were in the wrong to begin with.

kinda off subject if you hit someone's house your brakes might not be working correctly.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by tooge

break, i know.

you are too ****ing quick

[tooge]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

you are too ****ing quick

heh. Read my own post and went "doh"!!!!!!!

[Gravedigger]

It would've been fun to see these "He was right to do what he did" if it were their child who would've been executed. They'd say, "My kids wouldn't break into a persons house." Or "My kid wouldn't steal my gun and bring it to school." Well somebody's kid does this stuff all the time, pray that it isn't your child next time because you won't get much sympathy on this board.