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Sorry that this will be kind of long.
I live in the U.S. in Minnesota, where in a community called Little Falls an absolute train wreck of a story happened over Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving, at around noon, Byron David Smith, age 64, was alone and tinkering in the basement of his rural home. He had supposedly had up to ten break-ins to his home, though he'd only reported one to police back in October. While he was down there, he heard glass breaking upstairs and grabbed a couple of guns he had stored in the basement, a Mini-14 rifle (.233 calliber) and a .22 revolver which he attached to his hip. Footsteps then came down the basement stairs, and before he saw the invader's face Smith shot him in the legs with the rifle. Nicholas Brady, age 17, came tumbling down. Smith then advanced on the boy and shot him again in the face, killing him. He later told police, "I wanted him dead," apparently driven to his witt's end by the number of break-ins to his house. Smith then placed Brady's body on a tarp and dragged him into another room in the basement, then sat down in a chair, probably with his heart pounding, to ponder what had just happened. "Holy (blank), what do I do now?" As he sat there, after a few minutes, a second set of footsteps was heard upstairs, which then again came down the basement stairs. And again, Smith fired when he saw the legs. This time a girl, Haile Kifer, age 18, cousin to Nicholas Brady, came tumbling down. Smith told police that he tried to chamber another round to shoot her again, but that his rifle jammed, at which point the wounded girl laughed at him. That angered him, so he pulled his .22 pistol and nearly emptied it into her chest. He then dragged her, gasping and still alive, into the room where her cousin lay dead, and then put the pistol barrel under her chin and fired the last round in what he told police was a "clean kill shot" to put her out of her misery.
Smith then waited until the next day to take any further action, with the bodies in his basement. He called a neighbor to inquire about finding a lawyer, then asked the neighbor to call the police for him. He told the police that he hadn't want to bother them on Thanksgiving. He was arrested and charged with murder. There is now a huge controversy in the local news here over whether Smith was justified in his actions in shooting two invading burglars in self defense, or whether he went way over the line.
The two teens were out driving around on Thanksgiving when they should have been with their family, and their car was found parked on the road near Smith's house. Hale Kifer had a history of drug abuse. The theory is that she and her cousin were in search of drugs in elderly peoples' homes.
People are speculating all over the place. Surely the girl must have heard the shots when the boy was shot. Why would she then go down into the basement to suffer the same fate? I think the boy went in first and the girl was waiting in the car, heater and radio both running full blast, so that she didn't hear the shots. After several minutes went by, she went in to see what was taking her cousin so long. People are also scoffing at Smith's claim that the girl laughed at him after being shot. I can think of several explanations for that. Maybe she gave a short laugh of relief upon seeing that his rifle had jammed. Or just maybe, she may have been high on drugs and feeling no pain. Maybe she only fell down because her leg was blown out from under her and when she looked up from the basement floor, she saw not a man holding a rifle but a giant pink rabbit holding a giant candy cane. Funniest thing she'd ever seen in he life. So she laughed. Pure speculation, but we will never know. I'll be very interested in the toxicology reports.
So the big question is- did Smith justifiably act in self defense or is he a murderer? Clearly, he went way too far. But just as clearly, those kids were committing a felony and should not have broken into his house. If he had waited until each of them was two seconds farther down the stairs and killed them both with a single head shot, this argument would not be happening. In America we have the right to defend ourselves against criminal attack with deadly force if we feel its warranted, but Smith went farther after the threat was nullified and executed those kids. Were the kids on drugs? Is Smith at 64 beginning to experience sinility? So many wild cards. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Any thoughts?
I live in the U.S. in Minnesota, where in a community called Little Falls an absolute train wreck of a story happened over Thanksgiving weekend. On Thanksgiving, at around noon, Byron David Smith, age 64, was alone and tinkering in the basement of his rural home. He had supposedly had up to ten break-ins to his home, though he'd only reported one to police back in October. While he was down there, he heard glass breaking upstairs and grabbed a couple of guns he had stored in the basement, a Mini-14 rifle (.233 calliber) and a .22 revolver which he attached to his hip. Footsteps then came down the basement stairs, and before he saw the invader's face Smith shot him in the legs with the rifle. Nicholas Brady, age 17, came tumbling down. Smith then advanced on the boy and shot him again in the face, killing him. He later told police, "I wanted him dead," apparently driven to his witt's end by the number of break-ins to his house. Smith then placed Brady's body on a tarp and dragged him into another room in the basement, then sat down in a chair, probably with his heart pounding, to ponder what had just happened. "Holy (blank), what do I do now?" As he sat there, after a few minutes, a second set of footsteps was heard upstairs, which then again came down the basement stairs. And again, Smith fired when he saw the legs. This time a girl, Haile Kifer, age 18, cousin to Nicholas Brady, came tumbling down. Smith told police that he tried to chamber another round to shoot her again, but that his rifle jammed, at which point the wounded girl laughed at him. That angered him, so he pulled his .22 pistol and nearly emptied it into her chest. He then dragged her, gasping and still alive, into the room where her cousin lay dead, and then put the pistol barrel under her chin and fired the last round in what he told police was a "clean kill shot" to put her out of her misery.
Smith then waited until the next day to take any further action, with the bodies in his basement. He called a neighbor to inquire about finding a lawyer, then asked the neighbor to call the police for him. He told the police that he hadn't want to bother them on Thanksgiving. He was arrested and charged with murder. There is now a huge controversy in the local news here over whether Smith was justified in his actions in shooting two invading burglars in self defense, or whether he went way over the line.
The two teens were out driving around on Thanksgiving when they should have been with their family, and their car was found parked on the road near Smith's house. Hale Kifer had a history of drug abuse. The theory is that she and her cousin were in search of drugs in elderly peoples' homes.
People are speculating all over the place. Surely the girl must have heard the shots when the boy was shot. Why would she then go down into the basement to suffer the same fate? I think the boy went in first and the girl was waiting in the car, heater and radio both running full blast, so that she didn't hear the shots. After several minutes went by, she went in to see what was taking her cousin so long. People are also scoffing at Smith's claim that the girl laughed at him after being shot. I can think of several explanations for that. Maybe she gave a short laugh of relief upon seeing that his rifle had jammed. Or just maybe, she may have been high on drugs and feeling no pain. Maybe she only fell down because her leg was blown out from under her and when she looked up from the basement floor, she saw not a man holding a rifle but a giant pink rabbit holding a giant candy cane. Funniest thing she'd ever seen in he life. So she laughed. Pure speculation, but we will never know. I'll be very interested in the toxicology reports.
So the big question is- did Smith justifiably act in self defense or is he a murderer? Clearly, he went way too far. But just as clearly, those kids were committing a felony and should not have broken into his house. If he had waited until each of them was two seconds farther down the stairs and killed them both with a single head shot, this argument would not be happening. In America we have the right to defend ourselves against criminal attack with deadly force if we feel its warranted, but Smith went farther after the threat was nullified and executed those kids. Were the kids on drugs? Is Smith at 64 beginning to experience sinility? So many wild cards. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Any thoughts?
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