Posted on 11/26/2012 9:37:12 AM PST by Uncle Chip
On the outskirts of Little Falls, Minn., Crystal Shaeffel walked down the long driveway on Sunday, past the "keep out" sign, to see the house where her teenage brother and her cousin were shot to death on Thanksgiving Day.
She was met in the driveway by the brother of Byron David Smith, the man who is in the Morrison County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder after telling deputies he shot the pair when they broke into his house, where he lived alone. He is to make his first court appearance on Monday.
The bodies of Nicholas Brady, 17, and his cousin Haile Kifer, 18, both of Little Falls, were discovered on Friday when authorities began investigating a missing-persons report and after a car parked down the road from Smith's home prompted a neighbor to report suspicions that something was wrong.
.....
A series of break-ins had made Byron Smith, a 64-year-old retired U.S. State Department worker, frustrated and fearful, his brother said Sunday.
In the rear of the house, which sits on the bank of the Mississippi River, surrounded by tall pines and birches, is a shattered bedroom window, now boarded over. It was where, Bruce Smith said, the teens used a lead pipe to break the glass, crawl in, walk down a hallway and go downstairs, surprising Byron Smith as he tinkered in his basement workshop over the lunch hour.
Byron Smith never called 911 but let the bodies lay in his home for just more than 24 hours while the teens' families tried to find them. Bruce Smith said his brother was distraught and didn't know what to do.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Need a picture of a “Sympathy Meter” pegged at zero.
Lets leave the blame out of this for a minute.
This woman walked past a “Keep Out” sign toward a house where her two brothers were shot.
That doesn’t appear too bright to me.
What part of “keep out” doesn’t she understand? The same part her brothers didn’t understand/ According to the story they broke into the mans home and were found dead there.
You come into my home and you might get shot too, but I would call the police right after. Don;t know what’s with that—him not calling immediately I mean.
damn. home of Lindbergh. just down the road from my old stomping ground.. Little Falls was always a quiet little town as I recall.. sad to see the community caught up amidst such affairs but it is not uncommon across the land.. sounds like drugs played a role, the shooter/victim may have had issues as well.. CSI:Brainerd time.
Doesn’t make sense to wait 24 hours but it sounds like it was a justifiable shooting.
Of course the family members are saying they were good kids. Good kids don’t break into peoples homes.
After reading the story, this looks like a clear cut case of self defense. It appears to me that a junkie girl talked her male cousin into breaking into a man’s home and they both died for it. Then the sister of the male burglar takes the press to harass the brother of the victim (the man in jail for defending his life and home) and goes on to do the white trash version of “They wuz such goood boyz”
Time to set up the evidence as self-defense?
I remember a similar incident 41 years ago near Tulsa, OK. Some teens left school at lunch and broke into a bait shop. The owner came back from lunch and seeing the break in, he went in shooting.
No charges were pressed against him even though one teen was killed.
Well, never any way to be sure in these cases, but maybe he waited a whole day to report it because he was seriously worried what to do—afraid that the liberal authorities in Minnesota would probably try him for murder, and put him through endless legal hell.
Not that waiting a day would help, but it’s not always easy to stay cool in such a terrible situation.
Time to relocate the rest of his firearms and ammo, so that only the weapon USED IN SELF DEFENSE, gets confiscated.
*** but I would call the police right after.***
***A series of break-ins had made Byron Smith, a 64-year-old retired U.S. State Department worker,***
Maybe he was afraid IT would be blamed on a YOU TUBE video.
Well, it’s not as if he drug them out of the house and hung them from the front gate as a fair warning to the other Yutes. I’ve often wondered what would happen to a homeowner who did that?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
they won an all-expenses paid trip to see St.Peter.
Heh... I have sometimes wondered what I would do in a similar situation where I blow away a home intruder. Would I call the cops, or just dispose of the body so as not to get involved in a bunch of paperwork, police interviews, possible revenge by the perp's thug family, possible prosecution by a liberal Democrat prosecutor (and all the attorney costs that would come with it), etc.
You know... I'd probably burn the body.
That wield be a good way to ensure your prosecution to the max. I assume you know this and are being a tad blustery.
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
Exactly. Once you’ve crossed that line - someone’s property line - you lose most of the benefit of doubt about your intentions. I doubt that they were polite to the homeowner whom they were intending to rob, or worse.
Money quote -
“Yes, she had an addiction problem and stuff, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to get murdered at 18 years old,” Shaeffel said. “I understand they came there to rob them, or whatever, but shoot them in the shoulder and call the cops.”
I don’t think some younger folks have a grip on personal property, private property rights and the idea that something called Laws apply to all of us.
OH, and the English shows a Public Skool edukashun.
More here with pictures:
Minnesota law stipulates that individuals are permitted to use deadly force when defending their homes, but authorities said that there was evidence to suggest that Smith may have gone beyond self defense.
‘A person has every right to defend themselves and their homes, even employing deadly force if necessary,’ Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel said in a news release. ‘Circumstances of this case however, led deputies to believe that Smith went beyond that point.’
Byron Smith was arrested after he told police officers of the shooting a day later, after they visited his home to investigate reports of suspicious activities.
‘Smith immediately told the deputies that he had shot and killed two people breaking into his home the day prior,’ the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Yeah. That's it.
Too much TV.
Better just to shoot the weapon out of the bad guy’s hand.
The police might have wondered why they were shot in the basement if they broke a window in the upstairs bedroom to get in.
I'm guessing the homeowner may have been experiencing early-onset dementia, or was otherwise not tracking well.
"Pillager" -- you just can't make this stuff up.
Smith attempted to shoot her again, but his rifle jammed, prompting Kifer to laugh.Yes, I would think he went a bit beyond self-defense, if this is what he said.Upset, Smith, pulled out a revolver he had on him and shot her "more times than I needed to" in the chest, he said.
Smith dragged Kifer next to Brady as she gasped for her life. He pressed the revolver's barrel under her chin and pulled the trigger in what he described as a "good, clean finishing shot" that was meant to end her suffering.
See #25, and linked article, for more details. He appears to have admitted that after wounding them, he deliberately finished them off.
He was in the basement, and shot each of them as they came down the basement stairs.
I thought about that too.
Then it looks like they’ve ALL 3 won stupid prizes.
No death penalty in MN, so he’s got that going for him.
If you read all the stories, you will see that he went a tad far and so will probably go away for a long time.
He heard the first person coming down the stairs and shot him through the body. Then shot him again in the head at close range. The girl was coming down the stairs a short time later and he shot her as soon as he could see her hips. When he went to shoot her again, the rifle jammed. So he took out a pistol and shot her in the head from close range.
If that is a correct account of what happened I think he is in big trouble.
This is from his statements.
From self-defense to 2nd degree murder with a pull of the trigger.
Against a 65 year old guy, a muscular 17 year old guy (from the picture in the article), even unarmed, is a mortal threat since he likely can beat an old guy to death. If the old guy is in bad physical condition, even an 18 year old girl can be a threat.
Once they're shot and on the ground, though, the plausible threat is greatly reduced. He should have just held them at gunpoint and called police.
Oooh!
I hate hearing that!
When the threat is stopped, render aid.
This at least requires calling 911.
He shot them both in the hip before they got down the stairs. So he didn’t know or care who they were.
The first shot in the hip might have been self-defense, but the succeeding ones were most definitely murder.
Why would they go to the basement? I have to wonder if he didn’t know who they were because of some drug deal gone bad.
Dump the body on the porch of a neighbor you don't like.
LOL.
I know you jest, but that’s probably be thought of in newspaper/TV stations all over the Twin Cities.
I predict this will be used by the DFL to further more criminal protection laws.
This stinks to high heaven, it looks like these two petty criminal teens ran into a psycho killer.
I am all for defending one’s life and property, and the lives and property of third parties,for that matter. But waiting a day to notify the authorities raises a red flag. If this part of the story is accurate, something is very wrong here.
I am all for defending one’s life and property, and the lives and property of third parties,for that matter. But waiting a day to notify the authorities raises a red flag. If this part of the story is accurate, something is very wrong here.
I am all for defending one’s life and property, and the lives and property of third parties,for that matter. But waiting a day to notify the authorities raises a red flag. If this part of the story is accurate, something is very wrong here.
keep reading, it gets worse.
http://www.startribune.com/180853761.html?refer=y&refer=y
“The Sheriff’s Office said it has received only one previous report of a break-in at the home”
” Brady started coming down the stairs, and Smith shot him with a rifle by the time he saw the intruder’s hips.
Brady fell down the stairs and was looking up at Smith when the homeowner shot him in the face.
“I want him dead,” Smith explained to the investigator for the additional shot.
Smith put Brady’s body on a tarp and dragged him to an office workshop.
A few minutes later, Smith heard footsteps above him. As in Brady’s case, Kifer too started down the stairs and was shot by Smith by the time he saw her hips, sending her tumbling down the stairs.
Smith attempted to shoot her again, but his rifle jammed, prompting Kifer to laugh.
Upset, Smith, pulled out a revolver he had on him and shot her “more times than I needed to” in the chest, he said.
Smith dragged Kifer next to Brady as she gasped for her life. He pressed the revolver’s barrel under her chin and pulled the trigger in what he described as a “good, clean finishing shot” that was meant to end her suffering.”
"Sheriff Michel Wetzel told reporters Monday afternoon that Smith explained to authorities that he didn't call immediately after killing the two because "it was Thanksgiving. He didn't want to trouble us on a holiday."
No that wasn't the reason:
"Sheriff Michel Wetzel told reporters Monday afternoon that Smith explained to authorities that he didn't call immediately after killing the two because "it was Thanksgiving. He didn't want to trouble us on a holiday."
This guy is either crazy or stupid, or maybe both. His own words will put him away for a ling time. He took a legal use of deadly force and turned it into murder.
My comments get posted a good ten minutes or so after I submit them, so I did not read that part.
That puts a whole new spin on this.
Sadly, he did moire than just defend his property, he executed them both.
this man has some demons that have been bugging him awhile, and I think her just attempted to exorcize them.
I’m wondering if the guy is even telling the truth about the girl (Kifer) laughing at him after already getting shot. If so - sounds like all sorts of crazy going on.
Well, he was a government employee, so he probably figured rules didn’t apply to him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.