Support NeoGAF

[Anton Sugar]

Recording Of Byron Smith Killing Teen Cousins Was Key To Case: Juror

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE COMMENTING

EDIT: Audio recording played during the trial of the murders: https://soundcloud.com/pioneerpress/audio-from-byron-smiths-house

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A window shatters. The sound of footsteps is followed by sharp cracks of gunshots, a teenager's groans and a fall. Minutes later, there are more bangs and screams from another teen before she, too, was silenced by a central Minnesota homeowner who was convicted of plotting the whole thing.

A day after Byron Smith was found guilty of premeditated murder, jurors said the audio of the Thanksgiving Day 2012 killings of two unarmed teens — a recording that the 65-year-old switched on before the break-in occurred — was key in his conviction.

"That was the most damning piece of evidence in my mind," Wes Hatlestad, one of 12 jurors, said Wednesday. "That audio recording of the actual killings and the audio recording of Mr. Smith's interview immediately after his arrest ... pretty much convinced me that we were dealing with a deranged individual."

Smith shot 17-year-old Nick Brady and 18-year-old Haile Kifer as they descended the stairs into his basement, where prosecutors say Smith was waiting. Prosecutors say Smith had moved his truck to make it look like no one was home, then sat in a chair at the bottom of his stairs with a book, energy bars, a bottle of water and two guns. He also set up a hand-held recorder on a bookshelf.

Defense attorneys said Smith was afraid after prior break-ins and was hiding from intruders, whom he feared were armed. Smith had previously installed video surveillance, and defense attorney Steve Meshbesher said Wednesday that Smith set up the audio recording as another means of protection.

"He was afraid that he might be killed," Meshbesher said. "He did it in case he was shot and killed in his house, and the police would have some evidence to use, and the family would be able to find the perpetrators."

Meshbesher said jurors should have heard the whole recording, not just the portion selected by prosecutors. He said Smith plans to appeal.

Ted Sampsell-Jones, a criminal law professor at William Mitchell College of Law, said the audio recording was devastating to the defense, noting that Smith's taunts to the victims don't show a man in a panic.

"It was very powerful, and it makes it very clear that ... he didn't do this because he had to. He did it because he wanted to. And that is not what self-defense is about," Sampsell-Jones said.

The recording captured the sounds of Smith shooting Brady as he came down the stairs. Brady groans after the first and second shots, but is silent after a third shot, and Smith can be heard saying, "You're dead."

Prosecutors say Smith put Brady's body on a tarp and dragged it into another room, then sat down and reloaded his weapon.

Kifer whispers, "Nick?" A shot is fired, and Kifer screams. Smith apologizes as his gun jams, then fires at Kifer four more times and says: "You're dying." A sixth and final shot — Smith described it as a "finishing shot" to investigators — was heard soon after.

Hatlestad said he felt early on in the trial that the killings were planned. He said the fact that Smith moved his truck from his home was significant, and he was struck that Smith positioned himself at the bottom of the stairs in "a little hidey hole," with a tarp ready.

He said jurors went through each charge point by point, "and reasonably quickly came to the conclusion that we thought it was in fact premeditated," Hatlestad said. He said jurors talked about the "deer stand" that Smith set up to wait for the teens, and he also compared the set up to a "shooting gallery" — a carnival game where a shooter waits for an object to march into view.

The teens' killings stirred debate around the state and in Little Falls — a Mississippi River city of 8,000 about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis — about how far a homeowner can go in responding to a threat. Minnesota law allows deadly force to prevent a felony from taking place in one's home or dwelling, but one's actions must be considered reasonable under the circumstances.

Hatlestad said jurors gave careful consideration to the self-defense and defense-of-dwelling claims. He said the jurors supported Minnesota's laws, but found that Smith's actions didn't meet the requirements to justify the teens' killings.

"I do think he had some fear," Hatlestad said. "But his reaction to it was very unreasonable."

Cliff notes:

• Kifer and Brady had "cased" the house prior to the burglarly (uncertain whether this was immediately before or longer)
• Smith, victim of several prior burglaries (he only reported one, however), sets up a tarp (to protect his carpet from blood), snacks, Ruger Mini-14 rifle and .22 revolver in his basement. He is positioned perpendicular to the stairs. In addition, he has set up a cell phone jammer in his house, activated his surveillance system, set up an audio recorder, and unscrewed the light bulbs elsewhere in the house.
  
  
• Smith drives down the road, parks his car, and walks 10 minutes back home to make it appear as though no one is home.
• Some time after, Brady begins checking the premises for openings and eventually breaks through a window to gain entry.
• Brady approaches the basement stairs and is shot once by Smith with his rifle. He groans as he stumbles down the steps.
• Smith tells him "You're dead" and quickly fires two more shots with his rifle. The final shot passes through the back of Brady's hand and into his head.
• Smith later tells an investigator, "I shoot him in the face. I want him dead."
  
  
• Smith moves Brady's body to the tarp
• 11 minutes later (Smith can be heard throughout the house but says nothing), Kifer (who had trace amounts of THC and possibly cold medicine in her system) enters the house and approaches the same stairs where Brady was shot.
• Kifer whispers "Nick?" at the stairs and Smith shoots her with his rifle. Kifer says "Oh my God" as she falls down the stairs.
• Smith attempts to shoot her again with his rifle but it jams. He says "Sorry about that" and then, while telling the incapacitated Kifer "you're dying, bitch" and calls her a "bitch" a few times, then shoots her five more times with his .22 revolver, including once in the eye, once behind the ear, and a final "good, clean finishing shot" underneath the chin because (summarized) ".22s don't penetrate skull very well".
  
  
• Smith waits until the next day to have a neighbor call the police

I know the last thread following this was closed, but I feel like the last line of the article sums it up very well: he likely had some fear and cause to be fearful, but he overreacted.

Ironic that his own recording is ultimately what did him in.

 

[3rdman]

I retold this story to some friends and before getting all the info, they all thought he behaved correctly...and then I tell them about the tarp, the surveillance, and his final words to the girl.

They all agreed that this is murder...Good that he's getting put away. It's one thing to protect yourself, its another to seek out vengeance and murder.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

I'm pretty surprised he was actually found guilty. Kind of strange that we have two cases of this (a homeowner seemingly trying to lure in a thief so he can legally kill them). We'll see how the appeals go.

 

[Anoregon]

Good.

 

[Slayven]

I find with someone using deadly force to defend themselves in their home. But this dude was just looking to kill people.

 

[Hari Seldon]

The double tapping is what makes this murder.

 

[Epsilon-delta]

Good.

 

[plagiarize]

Good.

Agreed. Good.

 

[Captain_Spanky]

What a fucking psycho.

 

[gcubed]

The double tapping is what makes this murder.

Just that?

 

[statham]

He is more deadlier then those kids ever would have been.

 

[xxracerxx]

The right verdict was made here.

 

[The Technomancer]

The double tapping is what makes this murder.

At the very least it pushes it over the edge

 

[andycapps]

So first, why were they in his house? Regardless of that, this old man is messed up and clearly should have called the cops when they showed up. Having everything sitting down there and lying in wait to kill someone (no matter if they are in your house illegally) isn't a sane or moral thing to do. And the finishing shots to make sure that they were dead, yeah, that's well across the line of defending yourself.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

The double tapping is what makes this murder.

In the case of the girl, it was triple. Shot her at the top of the stairs, she fell down them, shot her again, dragged her body to the other room where he had put the first body, thought he heard her breathing again, so he gave her one more just to be sure. Dude knows his horror movies. They're always just waiting for you to turn your back before they spring back to life.

Just that?

If he had shot them both once, and they died, we would have never even heard about this.

 

[s_mirage]

Good on the jury. There is no way that lying in wait for someone, shooting them, and then finishing them off once they were incapacitated can be justified as self defence.

 

[Jarmel]

Holy shit at that attention to detail. Yea I can understand killing someone who breaks into your house and some luring but yea he crossed a few lines especially with those double taps.

 

[Patryn]

I hadn't noticed the item about the cell phone jammer. That's pretty damn messed up.

 

[see5harp]

.

 

[U2NUMB]

I am 100% behind being able to protect yourself and property but this guy went WAY beyond that so the right verdict was delivered.

 

[onadesertedisland]

There be dragons, tread carefully in this thread.

 

[CrankyJay]

A fair decision.

 

[Anton Sugar]

In the case of the girl, it was triple. Shot her at the top of the stairs, she fell down them, shot her again, dragged her body to the other room where he had put the first body, thought he heard her breathing again, so he gave her one more just to be sure. Dude knows his horror movies. They're always just waiting for you to turn your back before they spring back to life.



If he had shot them both once, and they died, we would have never even heard about this.

Actually, he shot Brady three times and Kifer (the girl) six times. A few shots to the chest, one shot through the eye, one shot behind the ear (this is the fifth and killing shot) and one under the chin (the sixth shot, which he did because her death noises/gurgles made him think she was still alive after the fifth).

 

[Amory]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like that should stick.

 

[Tesseract]

disturbing stuff, blech.

 

[Marvel]

Those diagrams

I have no objection to the ruling.

 

[Jarmel]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like it.

I think it's premeditated in the same way that if you were going to a movie theater to shoot people, you don't know if anybody is going to be there but you plan on killing somebody.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

 

[Epsilon-delta]

In the case of the girl, it was triple. Shot her at the top of the stairs, she fell down them, shot her again, dragged her body to the other room where he had put the first body, thought he heard her breathing again, so he gave her one more just to be sure. Dude knows his horror movies. They're always just waiting for you to turn your back before they spring back to life.



If he had shot them both once, and they died, we would have never even heard about this.

You're wrong. He failed to call 911 immediately after the shootings and with the goodness of his heart, waited till the next day to notify the proper authorities.

You can't shoot someone that breaks into your house and just let them bleed to death on the ground, then call the police a day after.

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

Glad some things get done right by the justice system

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like that should stick.

Didn't he put a tarp down for easy cleanup?

 

[Kinyou]

Good. Anything else would have been pretty messed up.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like that should stick.

It is a bit tricky, as he didn't know FOR SURE that they would actually attempt the break-in.

I think maybe they are defining it as, he without-a-doubt planned to KILL any intruder, as opposed to solely defending himself and his property.

He even said as much to an investigator: "I shoot him in the face. I want him dead."

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Good. It's amazing he set up the audio recording and still did what he did. He must have been stone cold convinced castle doctrine would give him a license to do anything he wanted.

 

[Amory]

I think it's premeditated in the same way that if you were going to a movie theater to shoot people, you don't know if anybody is going to be there but you plan on killing somebody.

It's not really like that at all. No one has to break the law to go to a movie theater. These kids had to break the law in order to spring his trap.

 

[numble]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like that should stick.

Premeditation requires only immediate premeditation.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like that should stick.

In their eyes he took it too far with the traps and execution style murder. The idiot burglars shouldn't have done what the did. Mr. Smith shouldn't have killed them the way he did, especially if he's going have all his surveillance equipment to prove his mindset.

 

[Kintaro]

The right decision was made.

It saddens me though, that none of this have happened if people didn't feel the urge to steal from their fellow man. =( (speaking of any of the previous times this house was broken into...or any burglaries in general).

 

[Hari Seldon]

Just that?

That and not calling the police right away.

 

[Savitar]

Congratulations to a jury getting it right.

 

[Espada]

Good, there's no way they could've found him innocent with that kind of evidence staring them in the face. Furthermore, all the details just remove any doubt as to whether this was self-defense or flat out murder.

 

[diaspora]

smh, what a psycho.

 

[syllogism]

I don't see how you can call it premeditated murder when he really had no idea if they'd break in again or not. It's horrible what he did, but the intruders played a major part in him having the opportunity to kill.

Murder, yeah. Premeditated...doesn't seem like it.

i) That's akin to suggesting the perpetrator laying in wait at a location he can't be sure the target will visit can not be a premeditated murder.
ii) premeditation does not imply that the perpetrator had to have plan far ahead of the murder. Byron Smith could have been convicted of premeditated murder even if he started to contemplate murdering the invaders when they entered his proprety

 

[Amory]

Didn't he put a tarp down for easy cleanup?

He did, yeah. There's no doubt he was gonna kill anyone who broke into his house that night.

But it's not like he called over to them and invited them in. They were the initial aggressors.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Wow that write up was hard to read...

 

[The Technomancer]

He did, yeah. There's no doubt he was gonna kill anyone who broke into his house that night.

But it's not like he called over to them and invited them in. They were the initial aggressors.

They were the initial criminals, yes. Aggression is another matter.

 

[inky]

Good. Fucking psycho.

 

[robertsan21]

wow.. this guy is crazy.

 

[Jarmel]

It's not really like that at all. No one has to break the law to go to a movie theater. These kids had to break the law in order to spring his trap.

He was planning on killing the intruders though, seemingly no matter the circumstances.

 

[thekonamicode]

Justice is served. I'm not defending the actions of the teenagers that broke into Mr. Smith's home, but his response to their actions was beyond reproach in my opinion.

 

[mre]

So first, why were they in his house? Regardless of that, this old man is messed up and clearly should have called the cops when they showed up. Having everything sitting down there and lying in wait to kill someone (no matter if they are in your house illegally) isn't a sane or moral thing to do. And the finishing shots to make sure that they were dead, yeah, that's well across the line of defending yourself.

I'm not sure why you ask the question and then dismiss any response to it? I mean, in this situation you're absolutely right to dismiss any response because the question is largely irrelevant. Regardless of why they were in the house, he grossly exceeded the lawful amount of force he is allowed to exert in defense of his life and property. I would submit even if he had known that they were coming into his house to kill him, his actions would not be legally justifiable. Executing them crossed the line into murder. Hell, even if he hadn't executed them, shooting them and then denying them aid by failing to call the cops until the next day would also have been indefensible.