Byron David Smith: Self Defense or Murder?

Leading up to Thanksgiving 2012, Byron David Smith claimed that his home had been broken into at least half a dozen times over the course of a few months, only one of which he reported to the police. On Thanksgiving Day, 2012, Byron was home, reading a book in his favorite reading chair when he heard glass break and decided to take matters into his own hands. The next moments were captured on an audio recorder, as Byron shot Haile Kifer and Nicholas Brady, two teens from his neighborhood. It would be up to a jury to decide, was it self defense or murder?

Byron David Smith

Little Falls, Minnesota is a small town, a little less than two hours north west of Minneapolis. With a population of around 8600 as of 2019, it is almost exactly what you would expect when you think of “Small Town, USA.” One of it’s nicknames is “Small Falls.” Although he was born in Detroit, Michigan, Charles Lindbergh spent his childhood in Little Falls. He would later go on to achieve world fame by becoming the first person to complete a non-stop flight from New York to Paris. This flight is generally thought to be one of the most influential flights in the history of aviation and helped usher in the era of modern aviation and travel between major cities around the globe.

You probably also recognize the name because in 1932, the Lindberg’s infant son was kidnapped and murdered in what newspapers called, the “Crime of the Century.” This case prompted Congress to establish kidnapping as a federal crime if state lines are crossed with the victim. So, Little Falls is home to a Lindbergh museum and the Charles A. Lindbergh State Park, named after Charles’ father, who was a prominent Minnesota lawyer and US Congressman. The events that took place in Little Falls in 2012 have been described as Fargo-esque, like the popular cult classic movie. Everybody knows everybody, and everything about everybody.

Byron David Smith was a retired security engineer for the State Department. He had moved back to his home town of Little Falls about five years prior to the events of Thanksgiving Day 2012. When he moved back, he was quick to make friends with his neighbors, and they described him as a “worldly” guy and a great conversationalist. He would tell them about his travels while he worked for the State Department. He would talk about living in Moscow, Cairo, Dakar, Bangkok, and Beijing. People said that he was fun to talk with just because he had a breadth of knowledge about many subjects. Byron was involved in town activities as well. He mentored Boy Scouts as part of the local Scouts program. He also let his neighbor’s son use his garage when he needed a place for his rock band to practice.

In the months and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving though, something had changed in Byron. John and Kathy Lang said that Byron just wasn’t himself. He seems afraid. He was very quiet when they would talk to him, which had become less and less, as he had withdrawn more and more. The Langs said he just seemed scared of something but would never talk about it.

In the weeks prior to the incident, Byron’s home had been burglarized at least half a dozen times, by his own estimation. He reported only one of those burglaries to the police. During the burglaries, Byron claimed that $4000 worth of cash, military medals and ribbons that he had earned during his career, guns, jewelry, tools, and the watch his father was given for being a POW during WW2 were all stolen.

As we mentioned, Byron was a security expert for the State Department, so he was familiar with setting up security systems and decided that he needed to set one up around his home so he could keep an eye on things. He set up several cameras around the outside of his house, giving a view of porches on the front and back of his home. His paranoia about the burglaries had gotten so bad, that he started to carry around a gun in a holster while he was at home.

The Victims

We’ve started out telling you about Byron David Smith and painting a picture of what the neighbors thought of him. We’ve tried to give a small glimpse into his mental state at the time, which was described by different neighbors at different times as anxious, panicky, scared or terrified, paranoid, and the one that stands out to me the most was “unpredictable.”

The victims in this case were cousins. Eighteen year old Haile Kifer, and her cousin 17 year old Nicholas (Nick) Brady. Nick’s sister, Rachel was usually with the pair, and the trio was for the most part, inseparable. When their family described them, they were (Dateline Descriptions) “best person ever, would light up a room, would give you the shirt off his / her back, etc etc.” Rachel and Haile were almost joined at the hip from a very young age. Usually, when you saw one, the other wasn’t far behind. Rachel said that her brother Nick was the type of person who would do whatever he had to to make you smile and get you in a good mood. Rachel would call him “Nickel Baby” as a nickname, and when she used it in front of his friends, he would get upset, but more of a joking upset, not truly mad.

Haile and Nick both grew up avid outdoors people, riding 4 wheelers, camping, etc. They were both involved in sports in High School. Haile competed in everything from track to gymnastics to softball. Outside of the school events and things like that, there wasn’t much for teens or young adults to do in Little Falls though. One of their favorite past times was just riding around in Nick’s car that he had fixed up. As someone who grew up in a small town, I can vouch for this being a legit activity, just going out and wasting gas “cruising the strip” from AutoZone to Sonic and back again.

So, with Little Falls being a small town, and there not being much for the teens to do, they did what teens all across the world have done… drugs. We’re not painting the picture that they were shooting up heroin and smoking blue meth from Walter White. From a few different sources we’ve found, it would point to marijuana use and possibly prescription pill use. We don’t bring that up to try to shame Haile and Nick. We do however believe that it is important to the story, because it could have been a driving factor behind some of the teen’s other activities.

Haile and Nick were also thought to be involved in some criminal activity throughout their neighborhood / town. Specifically, break ins that had happened in their neighborhood, including breaking into Byron Smith’s house. Nick’s own sister claimed that Nick had stolen drugs from her home, and that crime was under investigation when Haile and Nick were killed. After their deaths, police searched Nick Brady’s car and found evidence in the vehicle that implicated Nick in a burglary of a retired teacher the night before they were killed. Again, after their deaths, a friend of Nick’s was arrested on burglary charges, and as part of a plea deal, he gave information that implicated Nick in previous burglaries before his death.

Now, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would say that Haile and Nick deserved to die because of these burglaries. After their deaths, some members of their families doubted their involvement in any burglaries at all. Other family members said that they deserved to be punished for the crimes that they did commit, but it wasn’t up to Byron Smith to play “judge, jury, and executioner.”

Thanksgiving Day, 2012

What happened on Thanksgiving day, 9 years ago? Byron Smith decided that he was going to spend the day alone instead of being with his brother. Neighbors had invited him over, but he declined, which they found odd, since he had joined them in previous years. Instead, he decided that he was going to stay home by himself and begin what he described as a yearly process of cleaning out his garage before it got too cold. When doing this, he decided that he would move his pickup truck down the road and around a corner (about a block away from his home, near an adjacent property that he owned) to keep the truck out of his way while cleaning out the garage. It was by his own estimation, about a three minute walk from where he parked his Silver Chevy S-10 to his home. Once he moved the truck, he went back home and decided to read a book for a bit in his favorite reading chair in the basement before starting the cleanout process.

The night before Thanksgiving, Nick, Haile, and Rachel had stayed the night at a friend’s apartment. On Thanksgiving morning, Nick and Haile left around 11:00 AM and told Rachel they were going to their (Nick and Rachel) parents home. The plan was to meet later at their grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Nick and Haile never arrived for dinner though.

Instead, Nick and Haile drove around and when they passed by Byron’s house, they noticed that his truck was gone. They took this opportunity to case the house and see if anyone was there. When you watch the security camera footage from Byron’s house, you can see Nick walking up to the house. He then went around the outside of the house and looked through the windows. He went to the back and checked the door to see if it was unlocked. It wasn’t. At one point, Nick noticed that there was a camera setup, and he walked over and knocked it down. That camera was still recording but only showed footage of the ground, while the other cameras kept rolling. While Nick was doing all of this, Haile was allegedly acting as a lookout in front of the house.

It wasn’t captured on camera, but next, Nick went to a bedroom window and broke it out. Once it was broken, Nick made his way into Byron’s home. As this was going on, Byron sat in the basement, listening. He heard the glass shatter, then he heard footsteps walking above him throughout his house. After a few minutes, he heard Nick at the top of the basement steps. As Nick descended the steps, Byron started shooting. Nick was shot twice and fell down the steps where he laid at the bottom. Byron then shot him once more in the face. Byron shot Nick with a semi-automatic Ruger Mini 14 rifle. This semi-automatic rifle isn’t like an AR-15 where you just pull the trigger once and it sprays death in a matter of seconds. With a semi-automatic rifle, it will only fire a single bullet for each trigger pull.

After Nick was dead, Byron drug his body away from the bottom of the steps and went and sat back down. During his interrogation, he said he didn’t know how long he sat there for. He was in complete shock and lost track of what was going on. About 10 minutes after Nick was shot though, Haile called into the house from the window, yelling Nick’s name. This snapped Byron out of his “trance,” and again, he sat quietly while he heard footsteps above.

Byron heard someone at the top of the steps, and as they came down, he again started shooting. Haile was struck by the bullets and fell down the steps like Nick. As she lay in a heap on the ground, Byron went to shoot her again and his rifle jammed. He then pulled out the .22 caliber revolver he had shot her. Nick and Haile were both dead when they were supposed to meet their family for Thanksgiving dinner.

THE NEXT DAY, Byron called a neighbor and asked him to call the police because something had happened. The neighbor called the police, and they rushed to Byron’s house. When they arrived, they found Haile and Nick’s lifeless bodies wrapped up in a tarp in Byron’s basement. When they asked why he didn’t call and report the break in and shootings when they happened, Byron said it was because, “he didn’t want to ruin the officer’s Thanksgiving.”

Initially, the police thought that it was a simple, cut and dry self defense case. Someone broke in, and Byron, fearing for his life, shot them. That was until they spoke with Byron down at the police station.

Byron Likes to Talk… and Hear Himself Talk

Byron’s complete interrogation is on Youtube. When you listen to it, you can tell that Byron is fairly intelligent and well spoken. As the investigator begins to speak, Byron is almost “giddy” as he interrupts to give his name, birthday and address, etc. The investigator reads Byron his Miranda rights and asks him if he understands them, to which Byron replies, “It’s very clear.”

The version of the events we went through earlier were largely Byron’s version of what happened, which he went through during his interrogation. From the start, he said that when he called the neighbor, he asked him to contact a lawyer first, but since the neighbor was unable to, he then asked him to call the police. Next, the investigator asked Byron just a little about his history and if he lived with anyone, how long he’d been in the area, etc. Again, he told Byron that it’s his right to have a lawyer present, but Byron declined again.

They then talked about the past burglaries that had taken place at Byron’s house. Byron said he had reported one, and he knew the officer that took the report and several of the details. Byron said that the first break-in had been 12-15 years ago and had been going on for years. Next, Byron said, “Now I try to not be sexist,” and then proceeds to be incredibly sexist. He claimed that he thought it must have been a female who did the break-ins because they stole clothes and not tools. Byron then claimed that a week after one of the break-ins, a high school student was seen wearing one of the military jackets that was stolen from him, but that was only hearsay.

Byron then detailed another break-in to his home through the basement door. The paneling around the door was kicked in, and then the intruder was able to reach in and unlock the deadbolt. This break-in occurred when Byron had left to go shopping in a nearby town. Around that same time, there was a garage on an adjacent property that Byron owned that had been burglarized and vandalized. A home on that property had also been burglarized at the same time.

Next, the investigator asked Byron about the break-in and shooting. Byron recounted the story much in the way we went through. He did say that after he shot Haile and she fell, his rifle jammed. When it jammed, Byron claimed that Haile laughed at him, and that’s when he pulled out the .22 revolver and shot her. From there, he dragged Haile over to the tarp that Nick’s body was on. Once there, Haile began gasping again, Byron gave her “A good, clean finishing shot.” That is how he described placing the gun under Haile’s chin and pulling the trigger. He said that Haile then gave out a “death twitch.” Which he had never seen before in a human, but it was the same as it was in deer or beavers.

The interrogation went on for a bit. At certain points, they talked about the guns that Byron had. He was able to tell them when and where they were purchased, and which ones were previously stolen. Byron claimed that when this break-in occurred, he wasn’t going to wait to see if they had guns. He assumed that they had the guns they stole from him and , “If they were willing to steal a gun, they would be willing to use it.” So he didn’t ask questions, just fired.

From there, they talked about Byron’s history with work, traveling and living all over the world. It doesn’t seem to take much to get Byron going on any given subject. The investigator does what they’re trained to do when they have a person who likes to talk… just let him talk.

Byron described how he got upset when he saw how Haile and Nick were dressed. He was upset because even with the camera system he had set up, you wouldn’t be able to identify them because their faces were hidden.

Byron said that the rest of Thanksgiving day, night, and the next morning that he was terrified about another accomplice showing up to kill him. He claimed that he thought their parents were in on the burglaries, and they would show up with guns to see what happened. Around noon the day after Thanksgiving, Byron said he was finally comfortable enough to call the neighbor to tell the police.

The investigator then detailed what he pulled out of Byron’s pockets when they searched him, a few rounds from each pocket. Byron said he was wearing these same clothes when he killed Haile and Nick. The investigator asked if he minded if they took those clothes as evidence, which Byron agreed to. He even pointed out some blood that was on one of his shoes. They also asked for Byron to give a DNA test via mouth / cheek swab. As the first part of the interrogation drew to a close, the investigator asked if Byron would be okay talking with them again, if they had further questions.

A few hours later, they continued that interrogation. It was a brief interaction this time. They just wanted to talk a little and get more information about the guns that were stolen from Byron and the guns he currently owned. After a few minutes, they again ended the interrogation.

The next portion of the interrogation was the following Saturday. By this point, Byron had an attorney but waived his right to have his attorney present while being questioned. They began by asking Byron about his surveillance system that he had installed. They asked him if he would agree to letting them take the footage, which he did. He then gave them detailed directions of how to view and transfer data from the DVR hard drive where footage was captured and stored.

After Byron was finished teaching them how to move the data, again, he just loves to hear himself talk, they asked him about vehicles he owned. He named a few different vehicles, one of which was a Chevy S-10 pickup. They asked him where that truck was, and he described moving it to his adjacent property, so he could clean out his garage.

Next is where the interrogation took a turn. Byron suddenly realized that moving his truck was the “trigger for them coming to see me.” Since his truck wasn’t there, they assumed that he wasn’t home. And The Oscar Goes To.

The investigator then goes on to just confirm details about when he moved the truck and where. Byron claimed that he was worried about leaving it outside of his garage because of the break-ins, so he felt more comfortable leaving it parked on the road. They asked Byron about some blood they found in his truck, and he said they would have to check because it could be beaver, coyote, human, muskrat. He said he had cut on his head and was bleeding a lot from that injury. His head was “dripping off and on throughout the day. There was no reason whatsoever that it would be the male or female from the basement though.” To close out the interrogation, Byron says that he’s “shocked” that he never realized that moving his truck was the “trigger” for them coming to his house.

The Audio

As the police were going through the evidence and making sense of the camera surveillance footage that Byron had, they discovered an audio recorder as well. When they plugged it into their computer to check it out, they listened through and checked out the spikes in the audio. What they heard was bizarre, ramblings at first….

They heard Byron talking to himself, almost practicing what he would later say. He was practicing talking to his neighbor, “Bruce, Uh, stop by tomorrow morning. No rush, but as soon as convenient. Park to the north, 100 yards north of the corner and walk in from the west.”

Next, on the tape you can hear glass shatter, and for a few moments, you can just hear faint sounds that might be someone walking around.

Then a few minutes in, you can hear what sounds like someone walking down steps. Two shots ring out, and you hear Nick groan. Then a third shot, and Byron says, “You’re Dead!”

Then you hear the tarp being opened and Nick’s body being placed on it. For the next several minutes footsteps are heard walking all around. Byron then gets near the recorder again, and you can just hear him breathing heavily. A few minutes later, you can very faintly hear Haile call out, “Nick.”

A few seconds later, you hear Haile come down the steps, and a shot rings out. As she falls down the steps, you can hear her mumble something, definitely in shock. Then the click of the rifle as it jams. Byron says, “Oh, sorry about that.” Then another click of the rifle. Haile says, “Oh my god.” Then three shots ring out as Haile screams. Byron yells, “You’re dying,” as Haile screams one last time. You hear one last shot then Byron says, “Bitch.” From there, it’s the sounds of Haile’s body being moved to the tarp, then a final shot.

The footage left on the recorder sounds pretty much like the ramblings of a madman. It’s just Byron talking to himself…

Cute, I’m sure she thought she was a real pro.
Of course, I’m safe now.
I feel a little bit safer, not totally safe. I’m shaking a bit, but still, a little bit safer.
I left my house at 11:30, they were both dead by 1.
I refuse to live in fear.
I felt like I was cleaning up a mess, worse that spilt food, worse than vomit, worse than shit. Cleaning up a mess.
You’re dead.
There was a major complication in my life. You don’t want to know. Believe me, you don’t want to know.
I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I felt like I was cleaning up a mess. The worst mess possible, and I was stuck with it.
***Heavy Breathing*** (scattered throughout)
I was doing my civic duty. The law enforcement system wouldn’t handle it. I had to do it. It fell in my lap.
She threw her problem in my face and I had to clean it up. I have not yet called the sheriff.
They weren’t human. I don’t see them as human. I see them as vermin. I see them as social deviants. (SOUNDS LIKE DEVIANTS, REALLY HARD TO MAKE OUT.)
In your left eye.
Like I give a damn who she is. Like I care who she is.
I’m sorry. So much regret. I try to be a good person.
I’m a sucker. They think I’m there for them to take advantage of. Is that the reward for being a good person? And then they dump this mess on me.
It’s exciting and it’s highly profitable, until somebody kills you. Until you try to take advantage of somebody who’s not a sucker, not a patsy.
Mother and father are both semi-psychotic. I put even odds that one or the other will come over here with a gun.
I received a death threat. I recorded it. You’ll get a copy of it. If I get a death threat, you’ll get a copy of it.

Scattered throughout the tape, you can hear Byron rehearsing what he’s going to say to his neighbor, lawyer, the police, etc…

It is all over the place.

Trial

Leading up to the trial, it was obvious that Byron’s lawyers were going to go with a self defense / castle doctrine defense. Under Minnesota state statute, “Reasonable force may be used upon or toward the person of another without the other’s consent when the following circumstances exist or the actor reasonably believes them to exist…when used by any person in lawful possession of real or personal property…in resisting…unlawful interference with such property…

Another state statute states: “The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized…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.”

Many speculated that had Byron stopped after the first shot, he would not have been arrested. “The law doesn’t permit you to execute somebody one a threat is gone.” Minnesota is not a stand your ground state like Florida.

In Florida, “A person who is in a dwelling or residence in which the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use or threaten to use:

(a) Non Deadly force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force; or

(b) Deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.”

Minnesota is what’s known as a “reasonable person doctrine state.” Law professor Joseph Daly defined it as, “If a reasonable person would see if you are in fear of great bodily harm or death. That’s our statute. It comes down to, what would a reasonable person see in this situation for Mr. Smith?” Essentially saying that if someone outside the situation would look at it and say, “yeah, that’s ok,” then it’s ok.

Byron’s trial started on April 21st, 2014. On April 29th, after only three hours of jury deliberation, a guilty verdict was returned on two counts of first degree murder with premeditation and on two counts of second degree murder. He was immediately sentenced to live without the possibility of parole.

Many jurors cited the audio recordings, which were played countless times during the trial, as one of the biggest factors in the decision. “It was the most damning piece of evidence.”

After the conviction, Byron Smith’s lawyers appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court. They upheld the conviction and sentence. They then filed a federal appeal, which was again denied. Next, they filed a petition with the US Supreme court, which was denied.

Byron David Smith is currently serving his sentence at Oak Park heights Correctional Facility.