The Byron David Smith killings occurred on Thanksgiving Day of 2012, when Haile Kifer, 18, and her cousin, Nicholas Brady, 17, broke into the home of Byron David Smith, 64, in Little Falls, Minnesota, in the United States. Smith, armed with a Ruger Mini-14, shot the teens separately and minutes apart as they entered the basement where he was, later stating to police he was worried about them being armed.
The case sparked debate over the “castle doctrine”, which allows a homeowner to defend their home with lethal force. The prosecution alleged that Smith’s actions and a recording he made himself while the incidents were unfolding showed premeditation (lying in wait) and that he used excessive force after having neutralized the threat. He was convicted by a jury after three hours of deliberation and sentenced to life in prison.
Smith (then aged 64) was retired from the U.S. State Department. He was never married and lived alone. His brother described him as a retired security engineering officer.
Byron Smith claimed at trial that prior to the murders he had been burgled at least half a dozen times over the preceding few months. He had only reported one previous burglary to police, and investigators only found evidence of two previous burglaries (one of which occurred in his detached garage and of which he appeared to have no knowledge when it was brought up by police). Among the items stolen were four thousand dollars in cash, his father’s POW watch, coins from a collection, and a chainsaw. Smith began routinely wearing a holster with a loaded gun inside his home, as well as stashing bottles of water and granola bars in his basement. Smith installed a security system to protect himself.
The Incident
On November 22, 2012, Smith drove his vehicle down the road, parking it in front of a neighbor’s home. Later that day, Kifer and Brady broke into Smith’s home. Video surveillance captured the teens casing the property prior to the break-in.
By his own account to police, Smith had been visiting neighbors when he saw Kifer, who he suspected was responsible for the burglaries, driving past his home. He commented that he needed to get ready for her and went back to his home. Upon entering his home, Smith turned on a recording device he owned. He removed the lightbulbs from the ceiling lights and positioned himself in a chair that was obscured from view. He heard the window upstairs break and Brady climb in (captured on audio). Smith then waited in silence for 12 minutes, until Brady began to descend into the basement. Smith shot Brady twice on the stairs, and once in the head after he fell to the bottom of the stairs. Smith then made taunting remarks to Brady’s body, wrapped it in a tarp and dragged him into another room. He went upstairs, and 10–15 minutes later, he ran back down into the basement, reloaded his weapon and took up his previous position in the obscured chair. Minutes later, Kifer entered the home and could be heard calling her cousin’s name. As she made her way down the stairs, Smith shot her. Wounded, she fell down the stairs, and Smith can be heard on the recording saying “Oh, sorry about that”, followed by Kifer saying “Oh, my God” very quickly; Smith shoots her again, multiple times in the torso, in the midst of which she screams “Oh, my god!”, and once next to her left eye with a High Standard Double Nine Convertible .22-caliber single-action revolver. He repeatedly called her derogatory names and then dragged her into the other room, tossing her body on top of her cousin’s, and shot her one final time under the chin, killing her. Audio and video of the events were recorded by Smith’s security system.
The deaths were not immediately reported to police. Smith waited until the next day to notify police of the shootings, claiming he didn’t want to bother the police on Thanksgiving. Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel has acknowledged that Brady and Kifer were there to burgle Smith’s residence. Brady’s sister claimed Brady stole drugs from her home on August 28, a case that was still under investigation at the time of Brady’s killing. Evidence recovered from the car driven by Brady was linked to a burglary of the residence of a retired teacher the night before he and Kifer were killed by Smith.
Smith’s statements to police describe delivering the coups mortel (English: fatal blows) to the heads of both teens after he had shot them on the stairs and they lay wounded on the basement floor. In his statement, Smith said that Kifer had let out a short laugh after she fell down the stairs, saying “If you’re trying to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again.” The audiotape did not record Kifer laughing; instead, she cries “Oh, my God!” very rapidly in fear. In police interviews Smith acknowledged “firing more shots than I needed to” and that he fired “a good clean finishing shot” into Kifer’s head.
Legal analysts have stated that the initial shootings most likely would have been justified under Minnesota’s laws, but that the subsequent shots were not justified once any threat had been removed. Sheriff Wetzel said that “The law doesn’t permit you to execute somebody once a threat is gone.” Hamline University School of Law professor Joseph Olson: “I think the first shot is justified. After the person is no longer a threat because they’re seriously wounded, the application of self-defense is over.”
Following the shootings, Smith made a number of statements, including: “I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I felt like I was cleaning up a mess – not like spilled food, not like vomit, not even like… not even like diarrhea – the worst mess possible. And I was stuck with it… in some tiny little respect. I was doing my civic duty. If the law enforcement system couldn’t handle it, I had to do it. I had to do it. The law system couldn’t handle her and it fell into my lap and she dropped her problem in my lap… and she threw her own problem in my face. And I had to clean it up.”
Hamline law professor emeritus Joseph Daly commented that the laws surrounding the case were dividing the Little Falls community. “In some states, somebody breaks into your home you are allowed to shoot them dead. Period,” said Daly. He pointed out other states, such as Florida, have a “stand your ground” law, but Minnesota has what’s known as a reasonable person doctrine. “If a reasonable person would see if you are in fear of great bodily harm of death. That’s our statute. It comes down to, what would a reasonable person see in this situation for Mr. Smith?” said Daly, arguing that summary execution is reasonable.
Following his conviction and sentence of life imprisonment, Smith appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. On March 9, 2016, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed Smith’s conviction and sentence. In November 2018, Smith’s attorneys filed a federal appeal, citing a brief closure of the trial to the public as grounds for Smith’s conviction to be set aside, which, if granted, would necessitate a new trial. The federal district court denied relief, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed. On November 20, 2020, Smith’s lawyers filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States, which was denied on March 22, 2021.
Bron: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_David_Smith_killings
Imaan Booster 