Every second of those terrifying minutes would be fiercely debated. Our natural instinct is to save yourself, however you need to do it. Divided over etou ore wellld. Aveadnc but before all the fear and kendvemb, 2012llg, it was just tolittleesota. But ess Everybody Knows everybody and ad semntowne n. Slues w i everything about everybody. Ker, harifir th 18yearold rachel brady was spending the holiday with her stolgu 17yearold brother nick and i ye other breakins. Their 18yearold cousin haile asing th but this time he was, as seen on kifer. This Home Security camera, he the cousins were inseparable. Said he moved his truck a few had been since they were little. Blocks away that morning to clean his garage. We were always together. We would go camping. The teens must have thought he we were always in the water, wasnt there. Always doing something. I needed to clean out the garage and i wanted it out of me and haile were always together. The way for a while. Nick was the fun loving one in the group. Byron told him how he was in the basement when he heard the kimberly is his mom. First intruder break in upstairs he would make sure to find and head toward him. Something to make you sme. I heard footsteps coming down he would just sit there and hug me and be like, rachel, the stairs and then i saw his feet and then his legs. Rachel, my big sister and make then i saw his hips, i shot. Me laugh every single time. It was nick. B, each. Ll kids, they liked to byron shot him three times. I was reacting. Okay. What were you reacting to is what im asking . He wouldts ahe outhiy he. The threat. The previous losses. Wioy. He ihisc i spent 20 years overseas. Gyme a couple years in bangkok, llra several years in cairo. 20 years overseas, not one c kt dnda problem. And i retire to my peaceful thanksngr. Wouwn hometown. Ulyou the in while byrons voice broke a few times during his account, rettry e the sergeant was surprised how calm and matter of fact he was jendi for most of the interview. And ftrouna. You would think after such a ing atgrdmaai horrific event, shooting and killing two people that broke ist nickanswerhoolut into your house that you would ovin, ldan. Be very emotional, maybe crying at times. I didnt notice any of that from answne to byron smith. He just maintained his re e d e idwas composure, which was rather odd. Much stranger still is byrons account of what happened news after he shot nick. T waedar haile entered the house and byron fired again. Ri elnd d wood. Ywhihe i ohel s it jammed. The trigger clicked and she e or nick . Laughed at me. I just pulled out the. 22 and noin shot her. Ouof tirwo if you try to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again. Ou ig. Tter ntter was haile really laughing . To the sergeant, it seemed like a bizarre detail. Then byron told them this. I thought she was dead and it ts oke. Be a g somin turned out she wasnt. So i did a good, clean finishing shot. He shot haile six times in all. And with that, the investigators came to believe this was something other than a simple acrtowa wod like s case of selfdefense. E atng dthnd my question, byron, is why did you shoot again . She didnt have a weapon in her hand. She wasnt i dont know if she had a weapon in her hand until later. She was laying there, hurt. Did she she wasnt threatening you. Im just asking i dont know if she was threatening me. There was certainly a continuation of the use of deadly force after it appeared to us the threat had stopped. And that made us believe that this needs to be looked at by the prosecuting attorney. Byron smith was arrested that day, but later released on bond. A grand jury was convened to look at the case. Syseakd in little falls, his friends were shocked that authorities could believe byron was anything but an innocent victim. It was ridiculous. That he would be this cold blooded killer . Really . Hes a quiet, soft spoken person. I just didnt fathom it. While byron was free on bond, the langs say he couldnt bear to go back to his home. So they took him in. I could hear him in nights, im sorry, i didnt want to hear anybody. I could hear him crying. The case quickly became a big controversy in little falls, minnesota. Did people take sides . Absolutely. Tid dx haasd cter ridnce. People became more opinionated about what happened. Some people would come up to me, hes going to prison, he shouldnt have done that. I said, well, you havent heard the whole story. Hey pi beties ridnce. I think byron has a lot of support in this area. D suns e frft woher le nshowksgifo hn 2 Bill Anderson is byrons neighbor. The same one who called authorities the day after the shootings. Myself, would i have done the same thing that mr. Smith did . No doubt in my mind. No doubt in my mind. It seemed like a big box of puzzle pieces. Prosecutors were in charge of evaluating the case against byron, and they knew it was controversial from the start. Ust w soong. Aeron when brent and i got involved o ca poli dent ad ou in it, the emails started, the thorosbo phone calls, castigating us for th troling tr edene taking this. E f after all, doesnt a homeowner eletgati any langaighsardhoe have a right to defend his dwelling . I didnt argue with people. I said just stay open and let the evidence come out and see if 64 smilivi you hold that same view. In chs after looking at all the sag,own his adcameit. , i evidence, the prosecutors believed there was a strong case. The moment nick broke the window and entered into that t ha byrelsog ppened house, didnt byron smith then have the right to defend himself . I c johheeio ha yes. Y o. A alndeeth h owoth yes, he did. But thats not what he did. Hs. Nec he went way, way beyond defending himself. That grand jury in minnesota agreed. In april of 2013, five months after the shootings, byron smith fs, thi a was indicted on two counts of bad cout first degree murder. Now there would be a trial in til quiere sre the case everyone in town was talking about with revelations from both sides. Coming up s in tceannow i try a lot of murder cases. This one seemed like a real challenge. Why . Because a lot of people thought we would lose it. Ust ankehingng s han. Murder or selfdefense . Thiswak ag he m to f, a why did he wait so long u brods before calling authorities . Fear. Peitthyou. The erf. The explosive debate heads into court, when dateline continues. Vo you get used to pet odors in your car. Heesd t stai. N shtas on tngyoig y diatars igatto anorsyou bee se g anotmierly hn ng a. Ce inor w o th wi sa dthmber, eyap llsudd iem ime ythie. Youhesois nic b d thme h washo erne three s . W eall a e you r saial, an elanntutsh b htoani d hatherha asichyac esll jliat o udhardab smtherud appe t us semeelm stet whyovict anahen ng y uto, at re ao cameifnick g abwwonly le aonti you think it smells fine, but your passengers smell this. Eliminate odors youve gone noseblind to for up to 30 days with the febreze car vent clip. Female passenger wow. Smells good in here. Vo so you and your passengers can breathe happy. Nothing will keep you from magnum. Made with silky vanilla bean ice cream, rich caramel sauce and belgian chocolate. Discover magnum chocolate pleasure. Saffect over 1 million homes a year and can cost thousands of dollars to repair. Thankfully, ridx has enzymes to break down waste and timereleased bacteria to reduce tank buildup. Ridx. 1 in septic maintenance. And now for rvs too thy ofha seenord keto qnde fa minneso avthowne i dit. I t omy o ce honhe l questi s co i it. Byron smiths first degree s hon , ea boy i d of. Mer murder trial got under way this april. F d owhat he seup surveillanceh and just like the town itself, carved in two by the Mighty Mississippi river, the people of little falls, minnesota found themselves divided. On one bank stood those who saw byron as a cold blooded killer who fired nine shots as two unarmed teenagers. When youre talking about out over ie ho multiple shots, down on the ground, right away it jumps out he l tc jes an t ed a th at you hey, this is premeditated murder. On the other bank were those f he ow who viewed smith with every right to defend himself and his antltr home against intruders. They werent invited for its hain de d thanksgiving dinner. They didnt come through the door. But nicks mother was hlking taclea determined even through her own grief not to make up her mind d until she heard all the facts. Y . P bot atim i kept an open mind, because ou hgru ver owroan if he was fearful for his life, i couldnt fault him for defending himself. Neou ack w i waited until i heard all the evidence. The evidence said byron push unst ckderm hn smiths defense attorney would bef us show his client had done nothing es aus wrong. This is a case about big friend b tou t misunderstanding. Es. Heun own s loly dis gun this is about byron smith being lookoue ma accused of a crime he did not commit. Did you believe that byron si a l smith was justified in shooting o be rof es ted ni, palive, when i nick brady and haile kifer . Yes. Its not something he wanted to housethndn do. Ay but he didnt ask them to nd hs. Ing man of ncere,ha hbyron h ry burglarize his home in a violent way on thanksgiving. Impe kit e was vi it sg. They chose to do that. And he reacted. So the defense came to court at,only confident a jury would see it that way. Ontkig tried. In minnesota, as i understand ng it ededar. L it, you have the right to protect your life. Ecethut t you have the right to protect your home, your property, as y y ootingck survetos agna long as its reasonable. Pe a hatdywe if somebody breaks into your t haen we onlhehous home and commits a felony th t esron offense in your home, you can frn him oanks d kill that threat. Llnfls dido uys g woabout he said that everything byron rurs whonrecking did that thanksgiving day and the next was evidence that he was truly terrified inside his e sh yousohyyohone own home. Why did he wait so long before calling authorities . Fear. He was afraid there was a third or fourth or fifth person. So he was afraid of the , to backyard, the front yard, the stairway, the door. I thos hiay t becaarerndled clthre s hes just in utter fear and he ultear goes in a closet and hides in c his own house until the fear b s stongli. Ve subsides. Ultear b s stongli. Ve ngld a, you woulry eale crdi c as for smiths calm demeanor and the matter of fact way which s s he described the killings i just pulled out the. 22 and shot her. The defense said he was just trying to help the authorities ings ]at . Thewier s. G any way he could. Ick anretty am it alup. H sn on the exterior, he appears to on to be calm, but hes talking ll ick anretty am it alup. About how frightened he is internally. Hes trying to explain to the police what happened. Hes trying to help solve what occurred. But would the defense be able to convince the jury that byron smiths own account of the shootings, how he gave haile a selfdescribed finishing shot, was really justified. I did a good, clean finishing shot. From a human standpoint, it just sounds so cold blooded. It does, and i had to deal with the way it sounded. But its not evidence of what hes thinking. Its evidence of emotion. Its not evidence of murder. He thought his strongest evidence to justify the shootings was the fact that nick brady had broken into byron smiths house before, had even stolen guns. So byron had every reason to fear for his life. You wanted to show them these are kids up to go good. No, thats not what i wanted to do. I wanted the jury to see the truth, rather than just see a painted picture that the media was playing their high school photographs. But the judge said testimony about nicks involvement in that previous breakin was irrelevant and inadmissible. He also couldnt say in court that there was evidence that nick and haile together had robbed another house, too. Unfortunately the judge would not allow that evidence to come in. And i thought he was making a grave error. How many witnesses did you have lined up that werent allowed to speak . About a half dozen. So byron smiths friends watching in court could only hope that the jury would see things as they did, that he was a scared man who defended his life and property. We know him as our friend, byron. So it was ridiculous to us for authorities calling him a cold blooded killer. It would be an uphill battle in the court of public opinion, thought prosecutors. They knew they had the burden of proof. I try a lot of murder cases, and this one in particular seemed like a real challenge. Why . Because a lot of people thought we would lose it. A lot of people saw this as a referendum on whether its okay to protect your property and protect your life. You dont see it that way . Not this case, not these facts. But to prove murder in the first degree, the state would have to show that byron acted not just with excessive, unreasonable force, but also with premeditation. And while the defense may have had a lot of townspeople on its side, the prosecution had something else. A piece of evidence they felt would sway any juror to see byron smith, not as a fearful victim but as a calculating killer. Did byron tell investigators that he had made audiotapes . No, he did not. Coming up youre dead. The revelation that stopped everyone cold. Those 12 deadly minutes heard on tape. Can you ever erase that from your memory . There are people who think byron smith is a hero. What do you say to them . I say hes a murderer. And murderers cant be heroes. In a sharply divided minnesota courtroom, the prosecution argued that byron smith was no fearful, innocent victim, but an angry man bent on violent confrontation. He told investigators from the beginning that he was sitting reading a book in the basement, that he was caught unaware. You dont buy any of that . No, not at all. The prosecutors said they had evidence that it was premeditated murder. They told the jury byron had set a trap for the burglars. Remember the story about moving his truck to clean the garage . The prosecutors said that was a lie. That byron had, in fact, moved the truck to make it look like he wasnt home. You think byron wanted to catch the people who had been breaking into his house . Clearly. He planned, he prepared, and he was determined to kill whoever was breaking into his house and stealing his property. The prosecution said byron was in the basement, not to read a book, but to wait, like a hunter. It just seemed like byron smith was deer hunting. Like a lot of folks do in minnesota. Where you get in your stand and you wait and you wait and when a deer comes by, you shoot and kill it. And it just seemed like thats what he did with these kids. But could they prove it . Turns out the prosecutors had something they had never encountered in nearly half a century of combined trial work. Do you remember when you first listened to it . I do. And it knocked me out. Ive never been able to hear a murder occurring. Byron smith recorded the breakin and shootings. Investigators found this Digital Audio recorder on a book she feel in the basement. It captured more than six hours worth of audio that day. You ended up with a trove of information. His own words on tape. Indeed, we did. Here is byron smith shortly before the breakin, talking to himself. In your left eye. Why would he say that . A half hour before anyone came over . Well, when you go through the autopsy photographs, you see that he shot haile kifer in her left eye. He was planning where he was going to shoot an intruder . Not just shooting them but where, where in the face is he going to shoot them . Then it sounds like byron is planning not just the shooting, but also his defense. He practices contacting a lawyer. I realize i dont have an appointment, but i would like to see one of the lawyers here. Ten minutes later, the practicing is over. The recorder captures something real. How quickly did everything go down that day . 12 minutes. 12 minutes, from the first shot hired at nick brady to the ninth and final one fired at haile kifer. It was frightening. The prosecutors played all 12 minutes in court, but first warned nick and hailes families, who sat through every day of the trial, that they may not want to hear it. He suggested that you probably shouldnt be there that day. He did, more than once. Why did you want to be there . I needed to know. You need to hear the whole story to understand it, i think, in this case. You cant just make a snap judgment. This is the sound of nick entering the home. Walking down the stairs to the basement. And as hes going down the stairs, you can hear him get shot. We wont play that part of the recording. But listen to what byron says after shooting nick three times. Youre dead. Then theres a rustling sound that the prosecution says is byron unfolding a tarp that he uses to move nicks body. You can then hear byron reload his gun. Ten minutes go by, then the recording picks up a whisper. Nick . Its haile coming into the house looking for her cousin. So she comes in and goes right to the basement, starts walking down and thats when he shoots her. Here on the recording is what the prosecution says is a pivotal moment. In his interview with investigators, byron said he felt threatened by haile, and that she had been laughing at him when he fired. She laughed at me. But on that audio recording of the shooting, which again we have edited, the prosecution says haile clearly sounds terrified. Oh, my god. Shes screaming in a high pitch, saying oh, my god, oh, my god. After shes done shooting, this is what byron says. Bitch those in court saw byron smith wipe away tears as the audio played. There was stunned silence, save for the quiet sobs from nick and hailes families. Can you ever erase that from your memory . Not ever. Ever since i heard it, its been replaying in my head over and over. I feel like any time i hear somebody say, oh, my god, thats what i think of. But the prosecution wasnt done with that recording. Im sure she thought she was a real pro. Because byron continued to talk to himself after the teens were dead. I felt like i was cleaning up a mess. I dont see them as human. I see them as vermin. By now, kimberly heard all the facts she needed. What do you hear when you hear those words . Pure evil. I dont know how you can say that. About anybody. Two precious kids. And i dont believe he was scared. I believe it was premeditated murder. But in court, the defense said that recording, as disturbing as it is, proves no such thing. I tried to be a good person. Rather it shows a man quite possibly driven mad with fear. I feel a little bit safer. Im totally safe. Im still shaken a bit. Hes talking to himself, mumbling things. A lot of things didnt make sense. He sounds frankly like somebody who is losing his mind. Or lost their mind. He simply had no ability to deal with reality at that time. After a week of testimony, the case went to the jury. It was anyones guess which portrait of byron smith the jury would believe, the cold blooded killer lying in wait or the terrified man under siege in his own home. What were you thinking as the jury went out to deliberate . I gave it all to god. I was pretty peaceful. Just put your faith in him . I did. And waited . And waited. It wasnt a long wait. The jury was back in less than four hours. The verdict guilty of first degree murder for killing both nick brady and haile kifer. I waited, i heard, then i believed, and it was said. I was very happy to see him taken away. But there was no winners. It doesnt give you your brother and best friend back. Exactly. I put my head in my hands and went, thank god for them. You know, that they got that. The families . Yes. But byrons supporters felt the opposite of relief. Shocked. Stunned. It was such a onesided trial. It was so unfair. Cathy says theres so much more to her friend the jury never learned. He just came here to retire and wanted a quiet life. This should have never happened. This is just pure, utter sadness. It was just 12 minutes that changed so many lives in so many tragic ways. Byron smith will live out his retirement in prison, having received an automatic life sentence. He plans to appeal. And nick brady and haile kifer, two young cousins who made a terrible decision to enter that home, paid for it with their lives. And their loved ones are left to mourn a future that will never be. You had a little baby girl not too long ago, and nick and haile werent here to see that. I think thats probably one of the hardest parts about all of it. I would have loved to see my brother hold her. He would have been uncle nick. Uncle nickel baby. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Chaos and despair on the border with mexico. Emotions are high as protesters attempt to turn away thousands of children attempting to enter the country after a traumatic journey from central america. This morning ill ask secretary of Homeland Security jeh johnson about what the white house plans to do to fix this problem, what the president has called a humanitarian crisis. Plus terror alert. Security tightened around the world for direct flights to the united states. Are changes in store for security at the airports here as well. Defeat for the president on obama care. Rulings that will affect the Political Landscape this year. Announcer from nbc news in washington, this