LITTLE FALLS, Minn. - The man accused of murdering two teenagers who broke into his home is on the verge of hiring a prominent Minneapolis attorney.

Sixty-four-year-old Byron Smith remains in jail on the verge of hiring well known attorney Steve Meshbesher who has been a part of many high profile cases, including a case involving a former Vikings player in 2003.

Meshbesher's office would not comment about the Smith case. A spokesperson told KARE 11 the firm has been in contact with Smith and expects he will officially hire his office Thursday morning. Smith is back in court in December.

Smith is accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Nick Brady and his cousin 18-year-old Haile Kifer on Thanksgiving day after police say the teens broke into his home on Thanksgiving day.

Meanwhile, investigators have connected the cousins to burglary in the area.

Richard Johnson just arrived home from Spain after Thanksgiving when he saw his sliding glass door shattered and his sense of security along with it.

"If there had been a confrontation who knows what might of happened," said Johnson.

Morrison County Sheriff investigators say the culprits Brady and Kifer allegedly broke into Johnson's home possibly a day before they did the same to Byron Smith's house. The two locations are only a few miles away from each other.

Johnson says nothing was damaged inside the home. Drawers were opened, things were riffled through, but he noticed several bottles of his prescription medication were missing, along with some old coins and loose change.

"I went to the drawer in the bathroom to get them and I noticed they were all gone, everyone one of them," he said about his medications.

The meds were found in the teens' car which was reported suspicious in that area the day before Thanksgiving, according to investigators.

"I always felt safe out here. But the whole thing is really mysterious," he said.

Johnson is now part of a tragic storyline that has the town he's lived for in decades baffled.

"It's tragic, it's so senseless the whole thing," he said.

(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1...inent-attorney

He is like the Mark Geragos of MN.