Minnesota man who killed teens in his home denied new trial

The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the first-degree murder convictions of a Little Falls man who shot and killed two teenagers who broke into his home on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. The court also found that Byron Smith wasn't eligible to appeal an order that he pay for the teenagers' headstones.

Smith, 67, was found guilty in April 2014 of murdering Nicholas Brady, 17, and Haile Kifer, 18. Smith received a life sentence without the opportunity for parole for the killings.

Smith's attorneys had argued in the appeal the judge had made errors during the original trial that deprived Smith of a fair hearing. They said the judge hadn't properly instructed the jury during the trial and that Smith's attorneys hadn't been allowed to present a full defense because the judge excluded some evidence.

Wednesday's Minnesota Supreme Court decision rejected Smith's arguments. It also found that the district court had erred in allowing Smith to appeal restitution to pay the cost of the teenagers' headstones because Smith had missed the deadline for filing the appeal. The decision ordered the district court to award $10,049.46 in restitution for Brady's headstone and $9,400.16 for Kifer's headstone.

Smith's home had been burglarized multiple times in the months before the killings. On Thanksgiving Day, Smith was in the basement when Brady and Kifer broke a first-floor window to enter the home. As Brady came down the stairs, Smith shot and wounded him. He then walked over and shot the 17-year-old in the face at close range. Kifer came down the stairs a few minutes later and Smith shot her as well. After his rifle jammed, he shot her with a pistol, dragged her onto the tarp where Brady's body was and shot her a sixth and final time. Smith later told police about killing Kifer with what he described as a "finishing shot."

Smith kept both bodies wrapped in tarps in the basement overnight before calling a neighbor, who contacted police. In an audio recording made by Smith that was played for jurors at his trial, gunshots and screaming is heard. He also talks to himself before and after the killings, calling the dead teenagers "vermin." The killings sparked debate about the legal limits of defending one's home against an intruder. Minnesota law says it's legal to shoot and kill someone in your home if you're being threatened with great bodily harm or death or to stop a felony.

But prosecutors successfully argued during Smith's trial that he stepped over the line. They said once Smith shot and wounded Brady and Kifer, he should have called police because the unarmed teenagers no longer were a threat to him. Instead, he shot both of them again at close range.

Court documents that weren't admitted as evidence during Smith's trial allege that Brady had broken into Smith's house in the past. Prescription drugs stolen during another burglary were found in the car the teenagers were driving. The judge also excluded other evidence about the teens' histories from the trial.