LITTLE FALLS, Minn. - Closing arguments have wrapped up and deliberations are underway in the high-profile murder trial of Byron Smith.
Prosecutor Pete Orput began his final statement Tuesday around 9 a.m., telling jurors that they will decide a very serious, but simple case. The big question, Orput said, is whether the killing of 17-year-old Nick Brady and his cousin, 18-year-old Haile Kifer, was premeditated. Orput says their deaths were planned, citing audio of Smith before the teens broke into his home that captured the defendant working through what he would do and say.
Orput told jurors that Smith moved his truck so the teens would think he wasn't home, made sure a tarp was nearby the shooting scene to wrap the bodies, activated his digital audio recorder, and loaded both his high-powered rifle and a handgun.
That, maintains prosecutors, adds up to premeditation.
One member of the jury could be seen openly weeping, wiping her eyes during the most graphic parts of Orput's closing argument. Others covered their eyes or faces. Members of Brady's and Kifer's families cried as well. He dissected Smith's interview with investigators, during which he described the killings, called the teens "vermin," and said he was doing his civic duty.
Defense attorney Steve Meshbesher followed, painting a picture of a man who had been pushed to the breaking point by repeated burglaries and fear for his safety. He referred to Smith's home as "his castle" and said he had every right to shoot the teenaged cousins. "Had they run away… yeah, that might be murder... but he never left his house," said Meshbesher. "They came into his house."
Meshbesher told jurors the events of Thanksgiving Day, 2012, were a result of bad choices made by Brady and Kifer. "I'm not here to convince you that what he did was nice," he insisted. "But it's legal, and it's not murder."
Jurors are scheduled to deliberate until 9 p.m., and could go later if they ask the judge.
Monday marked the beginning of week two of Smith's trial, and the end of testimony as his defense team rested its case. The 65-year-old former federal government employee is charged with first degree murder in the deaths of two Little Falls teens.
Prosecutors concede that 17-year-old Nick Brady and his cousin, 18-year-old Haile Kifer broke into Smith's home, but say the defendant did not need to shoot the teens multiple times in what they call a premeditated ambush. Defense attorney Steve Meshbesher says Smith feared for his life after a series of burglaries at his home, including one in which guns were stolen.
The judge in the case gave jurors final instructions late Monday. Deliberations are expected to begin immediately after closing arguments are completed Tuesday morning. The jury will be sequestered while they deliberate.
KARE 11 has multiple crews in Little Falls and will have complete coverage of the verdicts and their ramifications on both the Little Falls community and potentially, on Minnesota law.
