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Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: SF1900 on May 07, 2014, 10:42:55 PM
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Minnesota Man Who Killed Two Teens During Robbery Convicted of Murder
http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/minnesota-man-who-killed-two-teens-during-robbery-convicted-of-murder/
A Minnesota man who shot and killed two teenagers during a robbery ended up being convicted on Tuesday of premeditated murder. Byron Smith, age 65, had claimed that he was only trying to defend himself while the two teens broke in his home in the town of Little Falls, Minnesota back on Thanksgiving Day 2012. Smith’s attorney exclaimed Smith was fearful after numerous thefts.
However prosecutors contended that Smith was waiting in his basement and anticipated killing the teenagers. There were a total number of nine shots fired at Nick Brady, age 17, and Haile Kifer, age 18.
Jurors started deliberating on Tuesday morning and within only three hours had come back with a verdict. They found Smith guilty on two counts of both first-degree and second-degree murder. The parents of the teens sobbed as the verdicts were handed down. Yet Smith revealed no signs of emotion. His lawyer, Steve Meshbesher, stated he would file an appeal.
The two teenagers’ killings had caused deliberation around the entire state and also Little Falls, which is considered a Mississippi River city with a population of around 8,000 individuals and located around 100 miles to the northwest of Minneapolis, about just how far a homeowner could go in answering to a threat. Minnesota law does allow for deadly force to be used in order to stop a felony from happening in a person’s home, but that individual’s actions have to be considered rational under the situation.
Prosecutors explained that Smith set up a plan that started into motion the morning of the killings. After Smith noticed a neighbor whom he thought was behind the previous burglaries in his home drive by his house. It was next believed that Smith moved his truck in order to make it appear as if there was no one at home. He next sat down into a chair inside his basement and had a book, some water, a couple of energy bars and two guns.
Smith had also erected a hand-held recorder on one of his bookshelves. It ended up capturing audio of the shootings which would later become key evidence in the prosecution’s case. Smith also had put in a surveillance system which ended up recording images of Brady attempting to gain access to Smith’s home.
The audio recording was played numerous times in the courtroom and caught the sound of shattering glass. It next picked up the sounds of Smith shooting at Brady three times as he went down the basement stairs. Smith could be heard yelling, “You’re dead”. Prosecutors then exclaimed that Smith placed Brady’s body on the top of a tarp and dragged him to another room. He next returned to his seat, reloaded his weapon and began to wait again.
It was around 10 minutes later that Kifer walked downstairs. There were more shots heard on the recording, then Kifer began screaming. Smith was heard as saying, “You’re dying”. There is another shot, which police investigators state that Smith called “a nice, clean finishing shot”.
The teenagers were both unarmed, but Smith’s attorneys argued that he was afraid they each had weapons. The tape was allowed to run, and it picked up Smith saying the two teens were “vermin”. He ended up waiting an entire day before he asked a neighbor to ring up the police.
Smith did not testify on his behalf. Meshbesher stressed about the prior burglaries which had happened on Smith’s property. There was one that happened on Oct. 27, 2012 which had included the stealing of weapons. One of Smith’s neighbors testified in his behalf and stated that Smith had come to his door after that break-in and seemed to be extremely frightened.
Meshbesher declared in his closing statements that the two teenagers would still be alive if they had not broken into Smith’s home. He also stated that Smith had a legal right to use deadly force in order to protect himself if he so felt the need.
Kifer was a senior in high school and Brady was a junior. The two teenagers were cousins. Court documents about the two teens which were not allowed to be entered as evidence showed that Brady had actually broken into Smith’s home once before. He and Kifer had also been linked to another break-in that occurred only one day before they were killed. In it there were stolen prescription drugs discovered in the car they were driving around in.
The judge of the case excluded this evidence about the teens’ histories from the trial because he stated it was irrelevant.
Byron Smith has been convicted of premeditated murder in the killing two teenagers during a break-in of his home.
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This only makes sense if the shooter is black
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This only makes sense if the shooter is black
I wonder where Al Sharpton is.
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Why can you own guns so easily in America but not use them in your own home against threaths?
(Thought inspiring post of the day)
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Why can you own guns so easily in America but not use them in your own home against threaths?
(Thought inspiring post of the day)
I do not know :(
We need our resident gun lovin' totin' getbiggers to answer this one.
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Why can you own guns so easily in America but not use them in your own home against threaths?
(Thought inspiring post of the day)
I guess the thinking is that this was premeditated. He knew what was going to happen, and didn't defuse the situation.
Minnesota isn't a Castle Doctrine state apparently. :-\
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Aren't there bigger fish to fry? These kids were trespassing right
this feels like a case of "feel sorry for the nice looking all american youngsters"
Bah!
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Aren't there bigger fish to fry? These kids were trespassing right
this feels like a case of "feel sorry for the nice looking all american youngsters"
Bah!
Yes! Good point!
Liberals get a kick out of bullshit like this for some reason.
:D
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Audio
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I guess the thinking is that this was premeditated. He knew what was going to happen, and didn't defuse the situation.
Minnesota isn't a Castle Doctrine state apparently. :-\
I think the dude who did the shooting was hopped up on creatine and reading a Flex magazine when the two robberies entered the house. He probably thought they were after his stash of Flex magazines.
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I think the dude who did the shooting was hopped up on creatine and reading a Flex magazine when the two robberies entered the house. He probably thought they were after his stash of Flex magazines.
Surely he could have pleaded temporary insanity ... I mean no one reads Flex do they?
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Yes! Good point!
Liberals get a kick out of bullshit like this for some reason.
:D
I read this about the incident:
The law says you can use FORCE to defend yourself but deadly force is reserved only as necessary when IMMINENT and unavoidable. When he was dragging the girl, he told the police he heard her gasp, so he ended her with a kill shot. That is MURDER.
He had every right to defend himself. But it was quite clear she was not a threat when she was gasping for breath. He purposely executed her.
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I read this about the incident:
The law says you can use FORCE to defend yourself but deadly force is reserved only as necessary when IMMINENT and unavoidable. When he was dragging the girl, he told the police he heard her gasp, so he ended her with a kill shot. That is MURDER.
He had every right to defend himself. But it was quite clear she was not a threat when she was gasping for breath. He purposely executed her.
this, it was a execution, he could have called the ambulance and cops but he decided to finnish her off instead
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this, it was a execution, he could have called the ambulance and cops but he decided to finnish her off instead
yeah to be fair if someone breaks into your house
their welfare should be your first concern
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Surely he could have pleaded temporary insanity ... I mean no one reads Flex do they?
I used to read Flex :( And sometimes at the grocery store, I will browse a flex magazine :(
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this, it was a execution, he could have called the ambulance and cops but he decided to finnish her off instead
Agreed. Of course he has to defend himself but he could have easily stood over them with his gun to make sure they didnt do anything else and calls the cops.
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yeah to be fair if someone breaks into your house
their welfare should be your first concern
who said it should have been?
so if you see that its a 18 year old girl that clearly isnt a treath anymore its ok to execute her?
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who said it should have been?
so if you see that its a 18 year old girl that clearly isnt a treath anymore its ok to execute her?
What would your avatar say?
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What would your avatar say?
"TANG TO POOH PEEEY!!!!"
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I wonder how many times the 2 teens broke into this guy's home.
At least twice... and possibly a lot more
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He executed the kid. The threat was neutralized and the execution was unnecessary.
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who said it should have been?
so if you see that its a 18 year old girl that clearly isnt a treath anymore its ok to execute her?
depends how hot she is
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depends how hot she is
lol
but iif you are quick enough you can fuck the corps before it gets cold
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Poor kids, who would have known breaking in to someones home might get you shot. Especially in gun nut USA.
:'(
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He shouldn't have killed them after shooting them but you know what? In other countries it's better to do that, otherwise it's you're word against there's. At least with killing them it's all your word. He just didn't make it look clean enough.
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I wonder how many times the 2 teens broke into this guy's home.
At least twice... and possibly a lot more
Yeah, the guy was burglarized several times.
I don't think he should be convicted myself.
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Yeah, the guy was burglarized several times.
I don't think he should be convicted myself.
"The judge of the case excluded this evidence about the teens’ histories from the trial because he stated it was irrelevant."
That is about the most bullshit statement from a judge I've ever seen. The guy never should have recorded it.
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So Minnesota's a Canadian province now?
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"The judge of the case excluded this evidence about the teens’ histories from the trial because he stated it was irrelevant."
That is about the most bullshit statement from a judge I've ever seen. The guy never should have recorded it.
Exactly.
Those previous burglaries caused a build up of emotion in the home owner. If those previous burglaries never occurred, he probably would not have used deadly force. But the burglaries did take place, and the home owner got pushed over the edge mentally.
Those teens messed with the same person too many times.
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Exactly.
Those previous burglaries caused a build up of emotion in the home owner. If those previous burglaries never occurred, he probably would not have used deadly force. But the burglaries did take place, and the home owner got pushed over the edge mentally.
Those teens messed with the same person too many times.
I fully agree. And they did it because they were sure there would be no repercussion.
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I think the dude who did the shooting was hopped up on creatine and reading a Flex magazine when the two robberies entered the house. He probably thought they were after his stash of Flex magazines.
rofl
in that case he was right to shoot
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He shouldn't have killed them after shooting them but you know what? In other countries it's better to do that, otherwise it's you're word against there's. At least with killing them it's all your word. He just didn't make it look clean enough.
It was a sloppy job. Maybe he wasn't thinking straight.. Being burglarized and all?
;)
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This story was just on Dateline this past Friday.
In my opinion, he made a mistake by calling the cops.
He should have just gotten rid of the bodies.
No one knew where these two punks were. >:(
He wouldn't have even been a suspect.
He trusted the system and it screwed him over.
The mother was in total denial about her son and the other victim, the girl, who was portrayed as some sweet angel. ::)
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complete fucken lunatic, what type of pussy kills a defenseless little girl gasping for air. Wow and the idiot didn't call the cops right away either, spends the entire day with 2 dead bodies in his place.
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complete fucken lunatic, what type of pussy kills a defenseless little girl gasping for air. Wow and the idiot didn't call the cops right away either, spends the entire day with 2 dead bodies in his place.
The frustration of being repeatedly violated could probably drive lots of people to such extremes.
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It's never a good idea to kill someone, do so only when absolutely necessary.
This guy had a number of opportunities to avoid this whole mess but he was out for blood.
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It's never a good idea to kill someone, do so only when absolutely necessary.
This guy had a number of opportunities to avoid this whole mess but he was out for blood.
This.
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sad to say, but if you break into peoples homes (repeatedly), you are placing yourself at risk of great reward (maybe the dude has a million in cash in his basement) and great risk (maybe he'll hide out and execute you). Plain and simple. The law is clear... you can be executed in this manner, and in rare cases, you are. We'll never know how often this happens. Without that recording, he probably WALKS and we never hear about this.
These 2 were the most disrespetful pieces of shit ever - stealing from the elderly in their homes, all over the neighborhood. And had he called the police, they woudl have gotten probation for it, and been back stealing from him 2 weeks later. I woiudn't shoot them, but I would beat the shit out of them for robbing my granddaddy, as would any getbigger. They're crap, plain and simple, they are garage as human beings. But I'd only beat them, not shoot them.
On the other hand, this dude is a sick SOB who deserves life in prison too. He's a sick murderer and he did commit murder, plain and simple.
It's a fcked up situation all around. It couldn't have happened to 2 nicer people, but he's a psycho and probably deserves to die too. Finishing off the girl = a new level of insanity. But let's not have a parade in honor of the two idiots robbing the elderly. imagine the years of terror and sadness and fear they've brought to so many lives. THe world is a fcked up place, you play with fire, you get burned sometimes, as these 2 learned :(
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Why can you own guns so easily in America but not use them in your own home against threaths?
(Thought inspiring post of the day)
Depends on the state law. In Florida, if a person is in your home, uninvited, they are legally presumed to be there for the purposes of a violent felony and therefore the homeowner is within their rights to shoot them.
You may think that is harsh, but until you've lived in that fucking zoo of a state, I would urge you to withhold judgement. I lived down there for several years and taught basic/combat pistol for folks to get their pistol permits. I had a one day course where at the end, I helped them fill out their paperwork and was even a Notary in FL so I could complete their paperwork and send it in.
In this case, I think that the man did show quite a bit of premeditation, so it isn't shocking that they prosecuted him. He could have done the same thing and made it look a LOT better than he did.
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it's murky, so old dude will go to prison. But he's 65... he'll have companionship and 3 hots and a cot in jail. He was at retirement age anyway. He's alone in the world already. So he doesn't lose all that much here.
People doing crime - especially invasive crimes like home invasion - should think about this case. you never know when a crazy old dude is at the end of his rope and ready to just fill you and your entitled little sweetheart with lead. They probably thought "Oh, we'll jjust get a slap on the wrist if we ever do get caught!" Entitled punk asses they were, pieces of shit shit shit.
A lesson to be learned all around. Don't fck with the elderly. You never know when you have an old man with military training, nothing to live for, a death wish, who gives no fcks... ready to shoot your smug punk ass because, well, the law opens up the loophole for him. They gave the sick old bastard exactly what he wanted... but they did violate his home and that's some medieval shit there.... without the recordings, and if he calls 911 in a timely manner... he probably walks and the execution of the girl is mopped up by "she was still moving and he felt threatened". He calls 911 and says he feared for his life, and he lawyers up - and he gets away with it. All the recording, might have been more of a social statement than legal wisdom.
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complete fucken lunatic, what type of pussy kills a defenseless little girl gasping for air. Wow and the idiot didn't call the cops right away either, spends the entire day with 2 dead bodies in his place.
x2!
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Legally you shoot to stop the threat not to kill. If death results from you stopping the threat so be it. When the threat ended it was murder.
Let me give you this to think about. If a guy with a gun is in your house and you shoot him. His gun falls away from him and he is gasping for breath. He looks like he is on his last leg. You approach and kick the gun away from him. If you shoot him now it's murder.
Now that same guy is shot. He is gasping for breath on the floor holding his weapon or the weapon is within reach. If you are in fear for you life at that second you can shoot again.
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Legally you shoot to stop the threat not to kill. If death results from you stopping the threat so be it. When the threat ended it was murder.
Let me give you this to think about. If a guy with a gun is in your house and you shoot him. His gun falls away from him and he is gasping for breath. He looks like he is on his last leg. You approach and kick the gun away from him. If you shoot him now it's murder.
Now that same guy is shot. He is gasping for breath on the floor holding his weapon or the weapon is within reach. If you are in fear for you life at that second you can shoot again.
Alternatively shoot him anyway and put the gun back in his hand.
job done.
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Legally you shoot to stop the threat not to kill. If death results from you stopping the threat so be it. When the threat ended it was murder.
Let me give you this to think about. If a guy with a gun is in your house and you shoot him. His gun falls away from him and he is gasping for breath. He looks like he is on his last leg. You approach and kick the gun away from him. If you shoot him now it's murder.
How about for the sake of just putting him out of his misery?
I can understand how the law would object to the way the guy had basically set a trap for those two kids, but it was still their choice to trespass - again.
Reduce his sentence, at least.
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weird, what kind of person prepares to shoot burglars with an audio recorder
Not a criminal mastermind, clearly.
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it's murky, so old dude will go to prison. But he's 65... he'll have companionship and 3 hots and a cot in jail. He was at retirement age anyway. He's alone in the world already. So he doesn't lose all that much here.
People doing crime - especially invasive crimes like home invasion - should think about this case. you never know when a crazy old dude is at the end of his rope and ready to just fill you and your entitled little sweetheart with lead. They probably thought "Oh, we'll jjust get a slap on the wrist if we ever do get caught!" Entitled punk asses they were, pieces of shit shit shit.
A lesson to be learned all around. Don't fck with the elderly. You never know when you have an old man with military training, nothing to live for, a death wish, who gives no fcks... ready to shoot your smug punk ass because, well, the law opens up the loophole for him. They gave the sick old bastard exactly what he wanted... but they did violate his home and that's some medieval shit there.... without the recordings, and if he calls 911 in a timely manner... he probably walks and the execution of the girl is mopped up by "she was still moving and he felt threatened". He calls 911 and says he feared for his life, and he lawyers up - and he gets away with it. All the recording, might have been more of a social statement than legal wisdom.
The "3 hots and a cot" retirement plan.
Give back to your community by taking out 2 or 3 of these degenerates upon your 65th birthday.
Doubt it would ever catch on in comparison to more mainstream means such as 401k and pension but the rest of society would all be the better because of it.
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The "3 hots and a cot" retirement plan.
Give back to your community by taking out 2 or 3 of these degenerates upon your 65th birthday.
Doubt it would ever catch on in comparison to more mainstream means such as 401k and pension but the rest of society would all be the better because of it.
true. old people in prison would have companionship, eyes on them, ears to listen to their stories.
they could work in libraries or make license plates.
OR they sit at home and do nothing but drive to church/publix every sunday and be bored 16 hours a day.
An over-65 prison would be a hilarious and disgusting place.