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BYRON SMITH MURDER TRIAL: Minnesota Teenagers Shot Dead During Break-In
#81
(04-17-2014, 02:49 PM)Midwest Spy Wrote: Haha!

Little Falls residents are digging out from 10" of heavy, wet snow today.

Are you drinking during office hours, MS?

What's funny and what does the weather have to do with the jury selection?
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#82
(04-14-2014, 12:34 PM)Duchess Wrote:

This is neither here nor there, just an observation - that girl had a lot of balls or zero common sense when she went down those steps after hearing gun fire. It's like the stupid female in the scary movie who opens the basement door.

I agree but I can imagine that sometimes your body just takes over without thinking.

An example is I always laugh at movies when the dumb girl runs upstairs from a killer, like your scenario. However I found myself in a situation similar in a haunted house at Halloween. I apparently have a reaction of fear when a man approached me with a chain saw. I was with my then boyfriend who was a body builder and I tried to run but he didn't run with me. I dropped his hand and took off. I would be lying if I didn't do exactly what they do in movies... Run run run twirl around to look where the bad guy is and kept running and looking back. I found myself right in the middle of a black out maze. My brain didn't process that I could go anywhere including where I came from but my body just took over. I normally am not the type to run in fight or flight situations but I had no control over my response until I was a far distance from the chainsaw. The then boyfriend finally caught up and asked what happened and why I left him.
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#83
Prosecutors are painting the picture that Smith lured the teens to his home in order to kill them; he was lying in wait with a plan for them.

Smith had 4 surveillance cameras set up, a cell phone jamming device, and an audio taping playing when he killed the cousins.

Prosecutors have been playing the audio recording at trial. On the part played Wednesday, Smith was heard saying, "They weren't human. I don't see them as human. I see them as vermin."

Ref:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/minn-homeown...not-human/
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#84
MEDICAL EXAMINER TESTIMONY

The gunshot wounds
Dr. Kelly Mills with the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office testified that Brady (the male teen) was shot three times, Kifer (his female cousin) was shot six times.

The final shot to Brady, which went through his hand and into his right temple, was the "most immediate fatal," Mills said. She described it as a close-range shot.
[Image: 0424_brady_wounds.jpg]

Kifer also was shot in the head at close range, Mills testified. She said the shot that killed Kifer, the fifth fired by Smith, was a close-range shot behind her left ear.
[Image: 0424_kifer_wounds2.jpg]

The toxicology results
Mills also said Brady tested negative for drugs and alcohol. Kifer's toxicology tests showed the presence of a substance in cough medicine, as well as a marijuana metabolite that Mills says had no hallucinogenic effects.

The question of possible drug use became an issue after the killings as Smith's friends claimed the teens were high on drugs, and authorities said a car linked to Brady and Kifer contained prescription drugs that had been stolen from another house. However, the drugs won't be allowed as evidence in court.

Refs:
http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2014-04...sy-reports
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/me-minn-home...ose-range/
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#85


I think he's going to do some time and it's certainly deserved.
[Image: Zy3rKpW.png]
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#86
DEFENSE RESTS AFTER ONE DAY -- CLOSING ARGUMENTS SLATED FOR TOMORROW

Smith’s attorney, Steve Meshbesher said outside the courtroom Monday that he advised Smith, 65 -- a retired US State Dept Security Officer, not to testify, though Smith was willing.

“He in effect did testify,” through his audio taped police interview, Meshbesher said. The prosecution played the interview on the first of the trial a week ago, as Smith, calmly and politely told a sheriff’s sergeant how he assumed the intruders were thieves who had been targeting him, stealing thousands in cash and a couple of his guns. He decided, he said, that it was shoot or be shot.

Asked if Smith wanted to explain the audio that jurors heard, Meshbesher said, “there’s nothing to address … I’m going to address it for him.”


A defense investigator testified Monday that Smith couldn’t have seen right away whether intruders had weapons as they descended his basement stairs.

The defense contends that Smith was fearful after repeated break-ins to his Little Falls home and his adjacent property.


The defense investigator told the jury how Smith served in the Air Force from 1968-1972, including a tour in Vietnam, and earned nine medals or ribbons.

The defense presented only the investigator and three character witnesses. The jury heard from Smith's older brother, Bruce Smith, 67, of Little Falls, who testified that his brother has a reputation for honesty in their central Minnesota community of 8,000. "He's highly regarded by everyone that has known his family," Bruce Smith testified. He also said his brother had been instrumental in training "three generations of Eagle Scouts."

The defense also called two of Byron Smith's next-door neighbors, Kathleen Lange and her 16-year-old son, Dylan Lange. Smith has been living with them since the shootings. They both testified that they believe Byron Smith to be honest.


Sources:
http://www.startribune.com/local/257001051.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/defense-rest...led-teens/
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#87
The Star Tribune is reporting that Smith is guilty of pre-meditated murder.
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#88
(04-29-2014, 05:26 PM)Midwest Spy Wrote: The Star Tribune is reporting that Smith is guilty of pre-meditated murder.

Thanks for the update MS -- that verdict sure came back quick.

Snip:

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours Tuesday in deciding that fate of the 65 year old Smith, who shot 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady after they broke into his home on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.

Smith had no reaction after the guilty verdicts were read. Families of the slain teens hugged each other and cried.

After the verdicts, Smith was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Asked if he wanted to speak, he said, “Thank you for the opportunity your honor. I decline.”

[Image: 042914a11LIttle%20Falls043014.jpg]

Smith was taken into custody from the courtroom.


http://www.startribune.com/local/257169671.html
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#89


Good! Glad to have a verdict that seems like some justice.

Every mutha who would consider doing something similar needs to take note.
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#90
(04-29-2014, 06:11 PM)Duchess Wrote: Good! Glad to have a verdict that seems like some justice.

Every mutha who would consider doing something similar needs to take note.

The audio of Smith killing the teens has been released -- it's disturbing.

After he shoots them, he carries on a creepy whispered conversation with himself rationalizing baiting and killing them and talking about his fear.

Here's the tape:


One of the male jurors was recently interviewed and said that the audio was instrumental in convincing the jury that the killings weren't done in self defense.
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#91


Damn. That kinda gave me the willies.

I understand now why she didn't hear the gunshots. They weren't nearly as loud as I had thought they would be in an enclosed space.
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#92
He recorded himself killing them? Wow.
Devil Money Stealing Aunt Smiley_emoticons_fies
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