Nicholas Brady (17) and his cousin Haile Kifer (18) were shot as they allegedly broke into a home on Thanksgiving Day

[ShellJett]

I think I heard him reloading a gun a few minutes after he shot the boy. There was no reason for him to shoot those kids - he would have scared the shit out of them just by being there with a gun. He could have held them while he called the police.

If someone was stupid enough to break in here I couldn't shoot because my dog would be biting the shit out of them. My guns are purely for self defense, and I would only shoot an intruder if they hurt Jett or were getting close to me with a weapon. This guy should have just got an alarm system, but he wanted to catch and kill someone. It was downright murder, and I'm glad he got convicted.

[Nic B]

Yeah. Came home drunk...

OMG, that is hilarious. Sad he died, of course. But he was killed by his own trap?

[bowieluva]

I'm pretty sure this guy didn't call the police for a while because he was relishing his kills.

[Gram Parsons]

This is all over the news around here. When it happened, I was on the side of the homeowner. I don't own a gun but I believe in defending your home and think that my belongings and memories are worth more than a criminal's life. At first it just looked like two junkies that broke into the wrong home. When all the facts came out, though, including shooting the girl half a dozen times... it was clear that something else was up here. I've listened to the audio recordings, and the man is clearly very unstable. By his breathing, he is very frightened and I don't doubt that he thought he was in danger. Hopefully this fellow is getting treatment in prison for whatever is ailing him, I'd hate to think of somebody like him roaming around with all the other prisoners.

[blighted star]

This is all over the news around here. When it happened, I was on the side of the homeowner. I don't own a gun but I believe in defending your home and think that my belongings and memories are worth more than a criminal's life. At first it just looked like two junkies that broke into the wrong home. When all the facts came out, though, including shooting the girl half a dozen times... it was clear that something else was up here. I've listened to the audio recordings, and the man is clearly very unstable. By his breathing, he is very frightened and I don't doubt that he thought he was in danger. Hopefully this fellow is getting treatment in prison for whatever is ailing him, I'd hate to think of somebody like him roaming around with all the other prisoners.

Frightened or very, very excited. That "oh, I'm sorry" is fucking chilling. I can't imagine what he must've been like to deal with as a security guard.

[leapfreak]

Frightened or very, very excited. That "oh, I'm sorry" is fucking chilling. I can't imagine what he must've been like to deal with as a security guard.

I thought he sounded more excited than frightened especially after he'd shot Nick and was waiting for Haile

[animosity]

yeah, i didn't get the feeling it phased him one bit. perhaps he was winded from dragging bodies across his basement, but his voice sounded collected. just because he said 'i feel less scared now' doesn't mean he was actually scared to begin with, after all he put himself in harms way by staging that he wasn't home and inviting people to rob him.

[blighted star]

I've been trying to put my finger on what I'm hearing in that "Oh, I'm sorry".


It's glee. He's fucking gleeful.


That night was the highlight of that vicious bastard's life. I bet he lodges appeals so that he's granted access to the transcripts & evidence - then he'll tell them he needs the tapes in his cell too

[bowieluva]

This is all over the news around here. When it happened, I was on the side of the homeowner. I don't own a gun but I believe in defending your home and think that my belongings and memories are worth more than a criminal's life. At first it just looked like two junkies that broke into the wrong home. When all the facts came out, though, including shooting the girl half a dozen times... it was clear that something else was up here. I've listened to the audio recordings, and the man is clearly very unstable. By his breathing, he is very frightened and I don't doubt that he thought he was in danger. Hopefully this fellow is getting treatment in prison for whatever is ailing him, I'd hate to think of somebody like him roaming around with all the other prisoners.

Yeah, how horrible for a deranged murderer to have to share space with other deranged murderers.

He doesn't sound frightened, he sounds excited. I would say this has nothing to do with Stand Your Ground laws or anything about property. This guy was People Under The Stairs territory.

[Ron_NYC]

What a dummy. Killing white kids is illegal. You can go to jail for that shit.

[Sarahric13]

He RECORDED this. WHO DOES THIS???

[puzzld]

He RECORDED this. WHO DOES THIS???

Someone who plans the whole thing and plans to watch it...gloating all the while.

[Suus88]

Wow. That audio is unbelievable. He sounds crazy. Talking to himself or the dead bodies? Repeating the same thing over and over. And the: oh, sorry about that! while he is killing the girl.

I'm not against guns or protecting yourself, but this guy shouldn't have had guns.

[Miller22]

Absolutely Suus. But, sadly, people don't come with warning stickers on them. They should though .

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (KMSP) -
Photos of the evidence used to convict Little Falls, Minn. homeowner Byron Smith of first and second-degree murder were released Wednesday morning.

Audio recordings and crime scene photos were critical in the jury’s guilty verdict on all four counts in the Thanksgiving 2012 shooting deaths of Nick Brady and Haile Kifer.

For me, seeing the photos of the basement changed this case somehow. I'd been imagining the basement as some dank, horror movie-esq basement. Unfinished and dark, concrete and cold. Seeing it as a finished basement with all the trappings of a "normal" home makes this, well, worse. Not to mention the fact that Smith was sitting in this comfortable wing-back chair waiting for them. I'd been imagining him in this dented metal folding chair, uneasy and waiting for them in discomfort. Now I feel like he was just laid back, kickin' it and waiting for them in - what was it someone said they heard in his voice: excitement?

[of_corpse_not]

Absolutely Suus. But, sadly, people don't come with warning stickers on them. They should though .



For me, seeing the photos of the basement changed this case somehow. I'd been imagining the basement as some dank, horror movie-esq basement. Unfinished and dark, concrete and cold. Seeing it as a finished basement with all the trappings of a "normal" home makes this, well, worse. Not to mention the fact that Smith was sitting in this comfortable wing-back chair waiting for them. I'd been imagining him in this dented metal folding chair, uneasy and waiting for them in discomfort. Now I feel like he was just laid back, kickin' it and waiting for them in - what was it someone said they heard in his voice: excitement?
]

This is exactly how I imagined the basement.

[Miller22]

This is exactly how I imagined the basement.

To me it makes it even more sickening.

[Miller22]

Saw the Dateline episode on this case last night. Good god were his neighbors/friends ignorant and smarmy. I also have to give credit to his Mom who said she was sad, but if smith was defending himself that was his right. She didn't want to think her son would commit the crime(s) he did, but she wouldn't deny it. She reserved her judgement for after she heard all of the evidence. Of course, it was the audio that really showed what happened.

so sick. How can one hear that audio and still think he isn't a cold and calculating murderer?

[Suus88]

He could be just fucked up in the head though. I do believe he was 'scared' because of people breaking in. I also believe he wanted to teach them a lesson. Question is: are you insane or a murderer because of that?

It's just too hard for me to imagine. We don't have guns here. I do think I would beat the crap out of someone for breaking into my house. It kinda reminds me of Pistorius, or the story he wanted people to believe.

[Live2Love]

He could be just fucked up in the head though. I do believe he was 'scared' because of people breaking in. I also believe he wanted to teach them a lesson. Question is: are you insane or a murderer because of that?

It's just too hard for me to imagine. We don't have guns here. I do think I would beat the crap out of someone for breaking into my house. It kinda reminds me of Pistorius, or the story he wanted people to believe.

Did you listen to the recording?

[debk589]

Did you listen to the recording?

I'm assuming no.

[Suus88]

Yes I did. That's why I wonder if he is crazy.

[bowieluva]

Yes I did. That's why I wonder if he is crazy.

He is crazy the way every serial killer is crazy. He wanted to kill someone, and enjoyed it. Which by definition is crazy but not a remotely sympathetic sense that should be taken into consideration for jail terms.

[Miller22]

He knew right from wrong, this much was made clear when he practiced what he'd say to a lawyer. if he didnt think or know it was wrong, which is the definition of criminally insane (or if it really was because he was soooo scared and thus in self defense) why practice what to say that much in advance of a break in??

[puzzld]

Yeah. This was cold blooded premeditated murder and this ass should be given the rest of his life to sit in a dark hole, wondering when someone is coming for him.

[biggie]

Seems like everyone got what was coming to them although I think the girl could have been spared and received a sentence of 5 years of BangBros scenes. If you are breaking into someone's house you should expect one of the outcomes to be your own death.