"You're dead," Minnesota Homeowner Told Teen Burglar

a reply to: drwill

Ive been reading this thread and I remember the thread made about this a couple years ago. It was a pretty big debate back then, and it still is now that the guy's on trial. (I haven't read much of this thread before posting this, just jumped to the last couple pages)

Im with you when you say his reaction was off the scale.

A few minutes later, Kifer walked down the stairs and Smith shot her, Wartner said. His rifle jammed when he tried a second shot, and Smith told police he believed Kifer laughed at him.He was angry," Wartner said, then describing that Smith pulled out his revolver and shot her twice in the head, once in the left eye and once behind the left ear.

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.

Before that last paragraph, the threat was already stopped. The girl was dying, gasping for air and he executed her. In addition to that, he stacked her body on top of the other dead body.

Plus, he waited for atleast another day to tell the police since he didn't want to bother them on a holiday. (I think he also called a friend for legal advice first, who then called the cops)

There was also some other speculation going around when this first happened that involved dealing with selling the teens pills if I remember correctly.

If he would of just shot them and called the cops, then it would be a different story.... instead he stacked their bodies, asked others for legal advice, didnt call the cops for another day at least after the killings, putting the gun to her head and using execution style shooting.....

Obviously you can see the failures of the Justice System here. After repeated break-ins by the same individual no charges were harsh enough to motivate the teens to stop. When a man is forced to take the law into his own hands and is punished for it, it really disgusts me and I lose faith in our courts.

I bet once the news got out that he was locked up for shooting the losers, his house was robbed while he was in jail.

a reply to: FlyersFan

a reply to: stumason

I guess it's neither here nor there. These were not little kids breaking into an abandoned building to get some hanky panky going. These were two teens, on the cusp of adulthood, breaking into peoples' homes. It was not a one time, oops I made a mistake thing here. They did it multiple times, to at least this one old man, maybe even others. I have a hard time convicting the guy in my own mind. I had my APT broke into before, so I know how it feels.

a reply to: buni11687

Indeed... I was in the other thread and remember this case in detail. This homeowner is one sick bastard. He lay in wait (Special Circumstance number 1), ambushed two people coming down his stairs in quick succession (Special Circumstance #2) and then shot the female mutiple times like a newbie gone squirrel hunting. (Special Circumstance #3) She died REAL hard and no one..but no one on this earth, deserves to die like that.

Each special is Capital murder. Death, if the state supports it. LWOP if it doesn't. The world will be a better place without some of the criminals in it. This piece of work is one of them.

I'd really encourage people to look into the transcripts on this case. Read his words, not the media regurgitation of the story. The kids were guilty, no doubt ...but a person CAN NEVER shoot down unarmed people, without warning and then toy with one like a cat with a mouse. The last shot was just the final repulsive act in his little play down in that basement.

Good riddens and I hope it's a hanging jury...even if we don't hang 'em anymore. This one would make an exception, if I had my way.

originally posted by: oneupShadow
When a man is forced to take the law into his own hands and is punished for it, it really disgusts me and I lose faith in our courts.

He didn't just 'take the law into his own hands' for if he had he may not be on trial for murder right now. Once they were already on the ground incapacitated (he admitted this) he then threw the law out the window by summarily executing both of them while they lay there gasping for air and not a threat any more.

He deserves to be tried for murder and hopefully he gets put in prison for it. If that offends your sense of justice then I don't really care, your sense of justice is warped beyond recognition if you think Byron Smith did the right thing here.

a reply to: FlyersFan

Let me get this right, no where in the article does it say the teens were armed? So I will assume is the case. And It sounds like a case of shoot first ask questions later. These teens just broke in probably to steal. Ok I'm gonna go against the grain here and say it ... He didn't have to kill them he could have just pulled on them and told them to leave and never return. Or he could have made them freeze and stayed put until the police got there.

Sure what they did was criminal and stupid, but these were kids and many of us have done stupid things even when we were kids even breaking and entering, theft what have you. This situation could have been handled completely differently. What he did was unethical and overkill. As a responsible gun owner I know you never point a weapon at someone unless they have one or is threatening to kill you. This is why it is illegal to kill people at least in my state even if unarmed. Now we can sit here and debate over the hypothesis if he felt his life was in danger or not. It does not matter this is the law and it states clearly even intruders are citizens and the use of deadly force should only be used against the armed. Fair game I guess, maybe if these kids had lived perhaps they should turn their lives around and become productive citizens and good people but we will never know that will we?

I don't know what scares me more , some teenagers breaking in my place or the sociopathy on this board and abroad. If the people are incapable of taking value in human life then how are our youth suppose to tell the difference between right and wrong?

The old man had a vendetta, someone who treats a dying kid so vile as they lay dying is cruel and flat out vicious hence why he murdered these kids. If you want to send a message to society you don't do it in such brutality and to such extremes. I mean he could have shot the kids in the leg even. This guy just gave the liberals more ammo in the Gun debate. This is why he's looking at Capitol murder.

I'm a huge supporter of the second, but this sort of thing shows some people should not have fire arms. And a lot of the people complaining about the police killing unarmed citizens ironically support what this crazy old man did to these kids .... Execute them in cold blood .

Wow the double standard

The irony of this case, as I stated in a previous post on here, is that the homeowner videotaped what he did.

Had this not happened it would be just another case of an innocent homeowner shooting dead two intruders, thus exercising his right to defend his property.

Once you give people the right to shoot home invaders, you pretty much give them carte blanche to do what the heck they like.

Who would know whether you shot them in fear or else leisurely executed them?

No witnesses - just the man and a couple of corpses who aren't saying much.




PS - I can't think why he would have recorded this, effectively incriminating himself, if the deed was premeditated.

originally posted by: buni11687
a reply to: [post=17837045]


Mother of god this guy is far worse than I thought, especially the last paragraph that send chills up my spine. This man is a cold blooded monster and A psychopath. How can anyone side with the gang land execution he performed in the basement ? It's pretty cut and dry it's premeditated murder. How is there even a debate?

He deserves to ride the lightning

a reply to: CJCrawley

The irony of this case, as I stated in a previous post on here, is that the homeowner videotaped what he did. Had this not happened it would be just another case of an innocent homeowner shooting dead two intruders, thus exercising his right to defend his property.

Chances are that he would have some explaining to do even if there were no videotapes.

The multiple shots to the head on the girl would sound alarms after the autopsy was completed.

How much simpler this would be if the children were playing on an X-Box instead of robbing houses. But an X-Box doesn't spit out money and guns like a house ripe for the pickings. That is how you support a drug habit.

those kids knew better than to act in a criminal manner.

anyone who has a gun in their house for protection is "lying in wait"

those two criminals got what they deserved.

originally posted by: spirited75
those kids knew better than to act in a criminal manner.

anyone who has a gun in their house for protection is "lying in wait"

those two criminals got what they deserved.

Clearly you just read the headline and not the content or you would have noticed he went far and beyond self defense when he shot them both at point blank range after he had already incapacitated them and removed the threat (to which he admitted doing).

I find it disgusting that, in your mind, two teens who were just breaking and stealing deserved being shot multiple times before being executed with "good, clean kill shots" under the chin. Your blood lust is rearing its ugly head if you think these teens deserved what they got.

This is the problem with going to sleep and then going to work, you come back to an interesting thread and there are 17 pages of stuff to read through.

Earlier in this thread I said I would convict Byron Smith of a lesser charge (I know, like its up to me, right?) but after reading as many news reports about this case as I could find on the Internet last night I 've changed my mind, let Mr. Smith go. This resulted from a massive and unforgivable failure on the part of the local authorities, even worse than I originally thought when I first heard about this case.

If it were up to me I'd let Mr. Smith go and in his place I'd prosecute the head of law enforcement in that municipality, the prosecutor, and anyone in the juvenile justice system who had anything to do with this group of young criminals and enabled them to continue with their crime spree even after knowing in April 2010 that they were stealing large amounts of cash and weaponry and targeting Mr. Smith specifically in the process.

Seriously, how much is a man supposed to tolerate?

originally posted by: Goteborg

Seriously, how much is a man supposed to tolerate?

Doesn't excuse execution-style killing after the threat had already been incapacitated as admitted by himself to the police.

Being tried and convicted for murder is appropriate in this case.

a reply to: Goteborg

OK, we all know Mr. Smith was pushed beyond his limits. Yes he was a victim of multiple crimes. But this isn't a SHTF scenario where his actions would be the most likely route and a reasonable one.

He executed two incapacitated people. Plain and simple. He executed them. He considered himself to be Judge, Jury and Executioner. Since the SHTF hasn't happened. That's illegal in the eyes of the law.

I would wager that if he walks, he too will be murdered and some one else will be going to prison.

a reply to: Kryties

Being tried and convicted for murder is appropriate in this case.

Being tried is appropriate.

Being convicted is up to the jury. They decide if a conviction is appropriate.

a reply to: butcherguy

Even the defense attorney admitted that he needs a jury that has bloodlust in order to win his case, other than that the prosecution has a slam-dunk case.

a reply to: Kryties

That's exactly what I'm doing, I'm excusing it in Mr. Smith's case. I wouldn't excuse it under normal conditions but this wasn't even close to normal. I understand why he did what he did and he never should have been in that position in the first place. So, just to head off your next comment...yes, I acknowledge that he executed the girl and I don't care because this was just far beyond what a man should be expected to tolerate.

a reply to: Goteborg

And against the law, to which he is now accountable.

a reply to: Kryties

Don't worry. Be happy. He will probably be convicted because of the state he's in.

originally posted by: Kryties
a reply to: macman

I only asked because you clearly couldn't give a damn about actual intruder laws, only the fact that the man shot two people and you get to fantasise about it.

When did I ever state I don't care about the laws???? Please, oh pretty please with sugar on top, show me where I stated this.


And when did I state I fantasize about this type of situation? Or is that just your assumption?