They chose poorly in regards to which house to break into.
Posted on 11/27/2012 7:59:37 AM PST by Uncle Chip
LITTLE FALLS, MINN. - Insisting the case crosses the line from self-defense to a cold-blooded double execution, Morrison County authorities filed second-degree murder charges Monday against a 64-year-old man who killed two teenage cousins after they'd broken into his home on Thanksgiving.
This woodsy central Minnesota town of 8,000 was jolted as the gruesome details spilled out in a criminal complaint, alleging Byron David Smith put a handgun under the chin of wounded and gasping 18-year-old Haile Kifer for what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot."
Smith, who according to a friend and a relative had endured previous break-ins, sat shackled in an orange jail jumpsuit as County Attorney Brian Middendorf accused him of "cold-blooded murder of two teenagers under circumstances that are appalling and far beyond any self-defense claim."
Sheriff Michel Wetzel said Monday that he believes the teenagers were committing a burglary but said Smith's reaction went beyond legal protections of Minnesota law that allows crime victims to use reasonable force to protect themselves and their property during a felony.
"We understand and respect that right exists, but what happened in this case went further," Wetzel said. "The law doesn't permit you to execute somebody when there's no possible way the crime can continue."
And the law requires people to notify police, said Wetzel, who learned about the shooting from a neighbor the next day. The sheriff said the reason Smith gave for never calling police was "it was Thanksgiving and he didn't want to bother us on a holiday."
Hamline University School of Law professor Joseph Olson, who has studied self-defense laws, noted that the number of Smith's shots will make it difficult for him to claim self-defense in court.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
That wouldn't surprise me.
Nor would it surprise me if this character had been exhibiting bizarre behavior ahead of this incident either.
Ah, so it was a tender and compassionate mercy killing.
After all, he is a board-certified trauma surgeon, and he knew for a fact that calling 911 would do no good, so he was entitled to play God.
You know, when you break into someone’s home you don't get to have the moral fiber of the victim you meet to be guaranteed as good.
So you shouldn't be there. And you get what comes.
And if you torture and murder an unarmed woman, one of the possibilities is that you will die in prison.
If he were not evil, he would be a free man.
“Never say anything except “I was in fear for my life”.
Correct. Because when you say stuff like: then I finished them off you sound like a cold blooded killer and you are going to get charged with some serious crimes.
That was Bernie Goetz (the subway shooter) too. He had the guys disabled, but then, infamously, he leaned over one and said “you don’t look so bad, here have another”.
I think Goetz beat the rap, I know one of the crooks he shot (and paralyzed) sued him but I don’t remember what happened with that.
But, you know, you needlessly complicate things and if it’s one thing cops don’t like it’s complications.
And then not to call the cops, well that really makes you seem like a criminal/weirdo.
Of course, you are free to spin it the other way if that is your inclination.
He didn't murder them. They committed suicide using his bullets.
“They thus far are only saying that the two broke and entered and were burglarizing the home.
I’m sure they are looking carefully at his story of shooting them as they were coming down the stairs to the basement.”
Not attempting to be facetious or disrespectful, but...
... What would he have been charged with, if this incident had happened in Texas?
And that would be his expert medical opinion?
you are free to spin it the other way
No need to spin it either way. She could have been beyond saving, or she could have survived.
Neither of us know the real answer - but more importantly, neither did he.
A moral person would have called 911 at that point. He did not.
Why do you think she deserved to survive? She initiated the sequence of events that caused her death.
Any other class of criminals that you want protected from the ultimate consequences of their actions?
No one’s denying he had the right to protect his home. That’s allowable under Minnesota law. Where I have the issue is with putting a gun under someone’s chin and firing a coup de grace.
Some people here are fine with that, I guess. That’s their call. I’m sure if they did that in real life they’d be big men in prison. Minnesota law doesn’t let you do that.
http://www.startribune.com/180785621.html
(sorry, forgot how to post links)
Sister of one of the deceased intruders trespassed on the property to confront the brother of the homeowner.
Slow learners, that bunch.
PS....mentions of substance abuse in this story.....
Oh, I am totally against his execution-style killing of the perps. Injuring them and calling 911 would have been sensible.
I’m not REALLY blood thirsty. :)
They chose poorly in regards to which house to break into.
My thoughts exactly.
Shooting them in the hip as they are coming down the stairs gives him plausible deniability about whether they were armed or not or whether he should have been afraid or not: "I didn't wait to see if they had anything in their hands".
And he didn't even do that or even request that someone do that.
The next day he called a neighbor and asked the neighbor if he knew a good lawyer. The neighbor was spooked by the call and called the police. He didn't ask the neighbor to call the police -- the neighbor just called out of suspicion.
Was he ever going to call the police???
More info on those darling chillins....
“She said that Kifer had been in treatment more than once for abuse of controlled substances, and speculated that her cousin might have been after pills. Kifer had recently returned to school and had been trying to straighten out her life, Shaeffel said, adding that Kifer had stolen Adderall pills from Shaeffel’s home.
“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.”
Whatever, Sweet-Cheeks. Ask your local Keystones when they are at the range how often they are taught “shoot to wound”, then get back to me.
Well.... that article isn’t going to go over well with the “hang him now” crowd on this thread.
Highly intelligent? Retired professional? No criminal history?
Doesn’t quite live up to the blood thirsty psychopath folks are trying to paint him as.
He was so thoughtful wasn't he??? especially since he was the one who put her in that misery with his excess shots.
And he didn't want to bother the police on Thanksgiving either. Thinking of others to the dying end.
In MN, the thieves come back later with a lawyer and clean you out via the legal system.
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