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

[displacedinMN]

To add another layer to this:

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. - Court documents show a Little Falls man accused of fatally shooting two teenagers had a surveillance system that recorded video of the cousins as they broke into his home Thanksgiving Day.

The St. Cloud Times reports (http://on.sctimes.com/Z5KILg) that search warrants reveal 64-year-old Byron David Smith also made an audio recording of the shootings. Smith is charged with murdering Nick Brady and Haile Kifer.

The search warrants allege Smith was sitting in a basement chair when he shot Brady, then sat back down and shot Kifer minutes later. The warrants also say Smith appeared to have blood on his shoes and clothes when authorities arrived.

Authorities learned of the video and audio recordings while searching Smith's home. They then went back and seized several computer memory cards and computer equipment.

[stevenidol]

If you can't stand the heat, get out of his kitchen.

[Prison Bitch]

After reading the story, it turned out differently than I expected. I think the man is a sick bitch and I hope he gets to be someone's "PRISON BITCH" (trademark) in the slammer

[displacedinMN]

Update

A Little Falls teenager who was shot to death after breaking into the home of Byron David Smith on Thanksgiving Day has been linked to two felony burglaries of Smith's property in the months before the shooting, court records show.

Nick Brady, 17, allegedly broke into Smith's house and later, his garage, and stole several items, including an envelope filled with cash, a video camcorder and a chain saw, according to two criminal complaints filed in Morrison County District Court this week.

Smith, 64, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Brady and his cousin, Haile Kifer, 18, as they broke into Smith's home along the backwaters of the Mississippi River.

The gruesome details of the killings, which involved multiple shots fired at the teenagers as they walked down the stairs to Smith's basement and as they lay dying, immediately sparked an intense debate in Little Falls and beyond over how far a homeowner can go in defending his property.

Neither teen was armed. And in the minutes after the shootings, Smith dragged the bodies into a workshop, where they remained until a neighbor called police the next day.

Smith's brother and a neighbor have consistently defended him, saying the retired security engineer for U.S. embassies and Little Falls native had been repeatedly victimized in the months leading up to the shootings, although authorities have only one report of a break-in, in October.

"You have the right to defend your home, and he's been through hell," neighbor John Lange said days after the shootings. "They tortured him and targeted him, and it's not good."

Tale of two burglaries

The details of the burglaries involving Brady were spelled out in two criminal complaints filed this week against Cody M. Kasper, 17, a friend of Brady's who faces charges of aiding and abetting in connection with the crimes, which occurred last summer and fall.

Like Brady, Kasper once worked odd jobs for Smith cleaning up the homeowner's property.

According to the complaints:

Shortly after the shootings, investigators executed a search warrant at Kasper's home in Little Falls believing that some of the items stolen from Smith's house and garage might be found there.

At that time, Kasper told authorities of the two break-ins.

He said that in both instances, he never entered Smith's house or garage, but simply acted as a lookout for Brady, who, in addition to stealing the cash, camcorder and chain saw, also took rolls of copper wire and a gas siphoning kid.

The teenagers agreed that if Smith or someone showed up or came down the driveway to the home, "Kasper would notify N.B. via cellphone," the complaints said. "Kasper stated that there was an active phone call (open line) between Kasper and N.B. during the entire burglary so that Kasper could quickly warn N.B. is someone was coming."

One complaint said that after the summer burglary, Brady bought Kasper an ATV as well as clothes and shoes for his help.

Twin Cities defense attorney Steve Meshbesher, who represents Smith, said Tuesday that the charges against Kasper and Brady's involvement help build the case that Smith had been repeatedly victimized.

He said Smith reported "a half dozen" burglaries to authorities over several months. It got so bad, he said, that Smith installed a security system "because he couldn't protect his home."

Meshbesher said that Smith began noticing that some of his belongings, including a shotgun, were missing after he hired Brady, Kasper and other teens to stack wood and perform chores.

Authorities have also tied Brady and Kifer to a burglary the day before the shootings, when six bottles of prescription medicine were stolen from another homeowner's property.

Smith's next court appearance is scheduled for May 6.

Richard Meryhew • 612-673-4425

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Bullshit that he's up on charges.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

Bullshit that he's up on charges.

Really? Did you read the original article?

[stonedstooge]

Did he pass a psychiatric exam?

[hometeam]

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts

Bullshit that he's up on charges.

Yea I mean, I guess playing Judge Dredd with teenagers is A-OK.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by hometeam

Yea I mean, I guess playing Judge Dredd with teenagers is A-OK.

I guess the real Judge Dredd was busy when the piece of shit broke into his house the first two times, right?

[stonedstooge]

I believe in protecting your property but he Executed two people. You can go too far.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by stonedstooge

I believe in protecting your property but he Executed two people. You can go too far.

I'd say he took one for the team. The world's a better place without them in it.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by frazod

I'd say he took one for the team. The world's a better place without them in it.

The mistake was using a .22 and shooting them in the hip area. Something in a 357 or 45 to the chest area would have sufficed with a single shot, and not given the appearance of an execution.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by unlurking

The mistake was using a .22 and shooting them in the hip area. Something in a 357 or 45 to the chest area would have sufficed with a single shot, and not given the appearance of an execution.

But that would have ruined the fun of executing them.

[unlurking]

*note to self: stay away from rain man's house*

[MagicHef]

He said that in both instances, he never entered Smith's house or garage, but simply acted as a lookout for Brady, who, in addition to stealing the cash, camcorder and chain saw, also took rolls of copper wire and a gas siphoning kid.

This part is a little alarming.