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Byron Smith's monologue revealed in audio recordings | BrainerdDispatch.com | Brainerd, Minnesota
Does it not sound like he had come undone?
After reading this thread several times I would have to go not guilty. None of this happens, none of it, had the teenagers thought enough of other human beings, to not break into their homes.
What he did may not have been the right "thing", but if a not guilty verdict accomplishes anything, it will be to serve notice to other would be criminals one thing.
If you break into someone's home, you should have zero expectation that you will leave in anything less than a body bag.
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Byron Smith's monologue revealed in audio recordings | BrainerdDispatch.com | Brainerd, Minnesota
Does it not sound like he had come undone?
It's probably posted somewhere but I'm curious as to the man's age and I would also be interested to know if he was on any prescribed medications. We know that he was on edge due to the fact that his house had been broken into before so it's quite possible that he didn't sleep well at night fearing another breakin. If that's the case fatigue may have played a role in his mental state and subsequent actions.
In the US the penalty for breaking and entering is not death. The penalty for burglary is not death. In both cases especially if you are not armed. So, taking satisfaction in blowing someone away because they are in your house is not okay. You are deeming yourself executioner beyond what the State itself does.I'm going to assume the multiple break ins caused the guy emotional trauma akin to PTSD
It's one thing to think you're safe in your home and another to know it's only a matter of time before some piece of shit breaks in and possibly does you harm.
Here's the thing people if someone will break into your home while you are there they are prepared to hurt you. If they weren't they would wait until your house was empty.
Exactly. I voted he is innnocent. The two perps would be alive had they not entered the mans home.
Had it been me, I don't believe I would have shot the girl at all unless she produced a weapon. I would have held her at bay until the police arrived and arrested her. But none of us know what the homeowner saw or thought he saw. We probably don't know ALL of the facts.
We don't know for sure if the intruders were aggressive, agitated, drugged up, or threatening in any way. When you're alone in your home and you know that someone has broken in there is a sharp rise in fear, anxiety, blood pressure, and adrenaline. You're breathing hard and your heart is racing. You're thinking that either you are going to lose your life or you're going to have to take someone else's. What was the lighting like? How good is the homeowner's eyesight? What do the intruders have in their hands? (Even a hairbrush or cellphone or a candy bar can look like a weapon during that split-second when your head is full of blood and your heart is racing).
A good defense lawyer will try to establish that the homeowner saw the criminal grabbing for what appeared to be a weapon so he shot a second time.
He lived alone.
And okay, maybe it is just me. But this had happened several times before. If he was just looking to kill someone, wouldn't he have done so earlier?
I'm going to assume the multiple break ins caused the guy emotional trauma akin to PTSD
It's one thing to think you're safe in your home and another to know it's only a matter of time before some piece of shit breaks in and possibly does you harm.
Here's the thing people if someone will break into your home while you are there they are prepared to hurt you. If they weren't they would wait until your house was empty.
Exactly. I voted he is innnocent. The two perps would be alive had they not entered the mans home.
The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense which the actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or death, or preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=609.065
Moreover, the notion that the defendant might have suffered a diminished mental capacity isnt supported by his actions, which were deliberate, calculated, and premeditated.Smith dragged Kifer's body into the workshop and laid it on top of Brady's, Wartner said. Smith told investigators he thought he heard Kifer gasping, so he placed his revolver under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot to the head," the assistant prosecutor said.
Byron Smith, Minnesota homeowner on trial for murder, lay in wait for teen burglars, prosecutor says - CBS News
I'm going to assume the multiple break ins caused the guy emotional trauma akin to PTSD
It's one thing to think you're safe in your home and another to know it's only a matter of time before some piece of shit breaks in and possibly does you harm.
Here's the thing people if someone will break into your home while you are there they are prepared to hurt you. If they weren't they would wait until your house was empty.
Exactly. I voted he is innnocent. The two perps would be alive had they not entered the mans home.
Incorrect.
See post #76 where the actual statue is cited, and how the actions of the defendant do not conform to the law:
The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense which the actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or death, or preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode.
https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=609.065
Consequently, the defendants actions were unlawful in the state of Minnesota once the criminal suspect had been neutralized and no longer expose[d] the actor or another to great bodily harm or death:
Moreover, the notion that the defendant might have suffered a diminished mental capacity isnt supported by his actions, which were deliberate, calculated, and premeditated.Smith dragged Kifer's body into the workshop and laid it on top of Brady's, Wartner said. Smith told investigators he thought he heard Kifer gasping, so he placed his revolver under her chin and fired what he told police was a "good clean finishing shot to the head," the assistant prosecutor said.
Byron Smith, Minnesota homeowner on trial for murder, lay in wait for teen burglars, prosecutor says - CBS News
In the US the penalty for breaking and entering is not death. The penalty for burglary is not death. In both cases especially if you are not armed. So, taking satisfaction in blowing someone away because they are in your house is not okay. You are deeming yourself executioner beyond what the State itself does.Exactly. I voted he is innnocent. The two perps would be alive had they not entered the mans home.
So tell me when should you assume that the person breaking into your home while you are there is going to harm you?
In the US the penalty for breaking and entering is not death. The penalty for burglary is not death. In both cases especially if you are not armed. So, taking satisfaction in blowing someone away because they are in your house is not okay. You are deeming yourself executioner beyond what the State itself does.
So tell me when should you assume that the person breaking into your home while you are there is going to harm you?
Before shes laying on the ground with a bullet in her chest gasping for air, not after.
He had the right to defend his home, so he had the right to shoot them. But then they were incapacitated and he should have called the police. Instead he chose to taunt them and then to execute them.
That's very, very wrong.
Not surprised. They needed to make an example of him.
Folks. Learn from this man's mistakes. Don't record anything. Use only necessary force ... do not "overkill." Don't shoot just because you can but because you must.
What do I win
I have no sympathy for the guy. I have been a victim of a home invasion, used my gun but never would have gone to the lengths he went to. He wanted to kill them for daring to rob him, not because they wanted to harm him or he feared for his life.
for playin!
If I was on that jury I would not vote guilty.
They broke onto his house he had every right to shoot them. Period.
See - that was my take, and more or less remains my take. The only thing I can figure is he essentially disabled them once they'd been shot. He could have called 911 and had them carted away.
He went ahead and killed them.
i would convict this sob in a heartbeat....yea he has ever right to stop them.....but does he have the right to execute them.....last time i checked b & e is not a death sentence crime.....when he fires that many shots and then simply does a kill shot to each of them....its no longer self defense....its premeditated murder
as a gun owner......i see what he did as horribly wrong...you have a right to self defense but you do not have a right to execute someone who is no longer a threat
Of course you wouldn't convict. Question. Would you have used a .22 or something bigger for the clean kill shots?
I'd have used a 12 gauge loaded with buck shot there wouldn't have been much left to worry about
Yeah, because your TV is worth so much more than human lives.
