• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Byron Smith convicted of premeditated murder of two teens during home break-in

Status
Not open for further replies.

Hylian7

Member
I remember back when this one happened.

I thought he might walk given stuff like Zimmerman, and other cases, but I'm glad he was actually convicted.
 
He moved his car so he could be at home in case people robbed him.That's not proof he wanted to be robbed. Being prepared for a bad event that you know is going to happen, is not the same thing as actually creating this bad event . No one wants to be robbed.

Luring them would mean he actually selected his prey and tricked them into deciding to choose to rob his house. Perhaps, I am nitpicking, but I don't think so. I think there is distinction between the motives. Luring implies he was just bloodthirsty and wanted to kill, and this was his chance, rather than this being a case of a homeowner believing it is okay to kill thieves.

?????

So if I put food in a mouse trap, I must specifically identify the mouse that is killed for it to be a lure? If I am fishing with a fishing lure, is it not a fishing lure unless I personally went into the water, found a fish, and decided to aim for it?

I guess the "actual murderer" defense force is here
 

PRBoricua

Member
This case just ran on a new show which premiered with this story on the ID channel called "Hear No Evil".

I remember the initial thread about this case back in '12 and the huge riot it caused here, so when it came up I definitely wanted to watch it.

The audio is mortifying, the boy being shot is one thing, but the way he murders the girl is something you can never un-hear.

A couple of things I noticed just from seeing the CCTV tape taken from his security system and what you can hear from the audio ...

The first thing is the girl doesn't seem to be directly involved, this seems like something the boy wanted to do on his own because he enters the house somewhere around 11:35, and she doesn't come along until seven minutes to 12. I legitimately think the only thing she was doing was looking for her cousin once he took too long to return to the car. Entering his home is still a crime, however, I don't think her intent was ever to steal anything, only locate her cousin.

After he shoots the boy, he begins to clean up with the tarp & what-not, then you hear him go upstairs, going from room to room to see if anything was damaged/missing. Then you suddenly hear him, moving briskly, back down the basement stairs and getting ready to fire on the girl. I'm pretty sure he noticed the girl coming to the house from upstairs and ran back down to the basement so he could ambush her as well, instead of notifying her that her cousin was already dead and not to come any further.

Also, what's up with all the deep sighing after he shoots the girl? I'm sure a lot of adrenaline is involved, but the first thing I took away from the audio was he really, really got off on killing them.

First ballot, hall of fame psychopath.
 

holygeesus

Banned
I watched this show too, and as someone from the UK, it blows my mind that this case still divides people. We had a burglar shot with a shotgun near where I live, and the guy got away with it as it was legit self-defence, but once you've incapacitated the guy, there is no excuse for finishing him off. His fate was sealed by not calling the cops straight off. Hope the smug prick rots in hell.
 

Erv

Member
I wanted to go through this thread then realized that there might be idiots in here defending this guy.
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
I think it's clear he was baiting them in to kill them. It's like people who go around trying to provoke cops flashing guns in public and all that stuff. Very clear cut here, and unfortunate.
 
Holy shit. I didn't hear about this when it happened.

I read the thread title and was ready to be disappointed in a jury for finding him guilty. Then I just got more and more mortified as I read on. This is some chilling, cold-blooded shit. Straight psychopath.
 

Machina

Banned
This is the dream of most gun owners in the US: The opportunity to kill someone under the assumption they'll get away with it
 

AkumaNiko

Member
I wanted to go through this thread then realized that there might be idiots in here defending this guy.

ya some people wont read the whole article realizing this old dude baited them in. What they did was wrong, but they did not deserve to die over it.
 
I wanted to go through this thread then realized that there might be idiots in here defending this guy.

Reading back through the thread, it really is amazing the defense force that appeared.

It's clear the guy literally lied in wait, ambushed them, and made no attempt to to anything 'defensive' -- he literally (premeditatively) murdered the intruders.

There's a difference between defending your self or your property, and straight murder -- and this is a clear case of the murder side of things.
 

Erv

Member
ya some people wont read the whole article realizing this old dude baited them in. What they did was wrong, but they did not deserve to die over it.
Yeah this fuck parked his car down the street. Sick bastard. He should be tortured. Not just thrown in a cell.
 

azyless

Member
Wow I sure am glad I wasn't around for this. Most American posts would have probably riled me up.
Glad he got convicted at least.
 
Wow this guy is an absolute lunatic. What is he expected to be sentenced to serve? This guy is legitimately dangerous and should get life in prison.
 
This is the dream of most gun owners in the US: The opportunity to kill someone under the assumption they'll get away with it

JvDhbQp.gif


Wow this guy is an absolute lunatic. What is he expected to be sentenced to serve? This guy is legitimately dangerous and should get life in prison.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will die in jail.
 

chronos86

Member
Dateline aired an episode about this a year or two ago. It's pretty amazing that the whole thing was caught on an audio recording.
 
Wow this guy is an absolute lunatic. What is he expected to be sentenced to serve? This guy is legitimately dangerous and should get life in prison.

Yeah, holy shit this guy is a fucking psychopath. Hearing the audio recording... god damn... no reason for him to kill them at all...
 

BraXzy

Member
I remember seeing this story back when it happened. I never read into it properly though.

I feel physically sick after reading the summary of events. I cannot imagine listening to the audio. Christ.
 

Thetinman

Member
I think what he did was wrong but if anyone breaks in to someones home I think they give up all right to life. You don't know what kind of monster are out there but if you walk in to their home you get what you get.
 

TS-08

Member
I think what he did was wrong but if anyone breaks in to someones home I think they give up all right to life. You don't know what kind of monster are out there but if you walk in to their home you get what you get.

It kind of sounds like you don't think what he did was wrong.
 
I think what he did was wrong but if anyone breaks in to someones home I think they give up all right to life. You don't know what kind of monster are out there but if you walk in to their home you get what you get.

Nope. That's now how it works.

You might as well argue that if someone breaks into my home, I can enslave and torture them until they die. They've lost all right to life -- what rights are left after that? Nothing -- so anything is now fair game!

Your statement is monstrous and disgusting on its face. You don't get to premeditatively murder a couple of people just because they broke into your home. There's no philosophical argument that links this sort of murder to the idea of defending yourself or your property.
 

sankt-Antonio

:^)--?-<
Isn't everyone who buys a gun for home defense "prepared" for murder?

Messed up guy and messed up laws that make people think shooting someone over petty belongings is a good idea.
 
Definitely not but jail is too easy

The entire reason you are judging him is because he violated the laws and social norms we've constructed around self defense and home defense.

Do you not see why it's hypocritical and dumb to advocate violating the laws and social norms of punishment because those laws/norms are 'too easy on him'?
 

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
This is the dream of most gun owners in the US: The opportunity to kill someone under the assumption they'll get away with it

what the fuck is this shit? I own several guns and would never dream of using them on another person. Stop generalizing. Most people own guns because its fun to shoot skeet, or target practice.
 

Yado

Member
what the fuck is this shit? I own several guns and would never dream of using them on another person. Stop generalizing. Most people own guns because its fun to shoot skeet, or target practice.

Do you really think most people own their guns for skeet shooting?
 
Isn't everyone who buys a gun for home defense "prepared" for murder?

Messed up guy and messed up laws that make people think shooting someone over petty belongings is a good idea.

Reasonable defense of your person isn't "murder" even outside the U.S. The difference between actual home defense cases and this is that if someone breaks into your home you can't assume they're unarmed, not dangerous, and are just going to take a few worthless belongings and leave, especially if they hear/find you awake. It's entirely defensive.

What this dude did was prepare, ambush, and murder.
 
That audio was terrifying how the teen theifs were unknowingly walking into their own execution. Dude sounded like he felt like an action hero in a movie.
 

PRBoricua

Member
That audio was terrifying how the teen theifs were unknowingly walking into their own execution. Dude sounded like he felt like an action hero in a movie.

Not only that, dude's spouting one-liners while he's doing it. "You're dying!" And "oh, sorry about that" when his rifle jams.
 

Ganhyun

Member
This is the dream of most gun owners in the US: The opportunity to kill someone under the assumption they'll get away with it

WTF is wrong with you?


Had it been two Somalian teens I wonder how the jury would have voted.

That's BAIT.GIF

Do you really think most people own their guns for skeet shooting?

Many people own weapons for skeet shooting or hunting. Some are collectors. Some people do buy guns for self-defense. There is more than one reason to own a gun.

My brother and father both defended this guy and said they don't see anything wrong with what he did. Both extreme 2nd amendment supporters

Then your brother and father are both wrong. That coming from another 2nd amendment supporter.

Damn those 2 supporters prove that everyone thinks that way!

Exactly.



If this had been a case where they broke in and he shot them in panic then I'd defend him. But, he lured them in and planned for the event. Dude deserves to be in jail.
 

Thetinman

Member
Does it bother you all that they were killed or is it how they were killed? Where does their responsibility for their own safety started?
 

holygeesus

Banned
Reasonable defense of your person isn't "murder" even outside the U.S. The difference between actual home defense cases and this is that if someone breaks into your home you can't assume they're unarmed, not dangerous, and are just going to take a few worthless belongings and leave, especially if they hear/find you awake. It's entirely defensive.

What this dude did was prepare, ambush, and murder.

The most chilling part for me, apart from the obvious, was how he cleaned away the blood from the first murder, then proceeded to put a rug over the stain, so as the girl wouldn't see it when walking down the stairs. It also blows my mind how he actually gave her two finishing shots while she was down, one in the eye, because she was 'twitching'. The way he conducts himself during the police interview too? Wow.
 
Does it bother you all that they were killed or is it how they where killed? Where does their responsibility for their own safety started?
It does. He had total control of the situation and could have held them up at gunpoint and called the police. The killings were unnecessary, especially the second one.
 

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Do you really think most people own their guns for skeet shooting?

everyone i know that has a shotgun does, yes. Having it at the house in the extremely unlikely change you need it. But that was not what the poster i quoted stated, he stated its a secrete dream of gun owners to kill someone. Speaking as a gun owner myself, i have 0 interest in killing someone, justified or not.
 

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
Does it bother you all that they were killed or is it how they were killed? Where does their responsibility for their own safety started?

both. This person had no intention of stopping the robberies in a legal way. He could have easily called the cops after telling them to sit down on the floor while holding them at gun point.

The only reason to shoot someone breaking into your home is if they attack you or your family.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom