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 at two unarmed teenagers. when you are talking about multiple shots, down on the ground. right away, jumps out at you. you know, hey, this is premeditated murder. on the other bank, were those who viewed smith as a man with every right to defend himself and his home against intruders. they weren t invited for thanksgiving dinner. there wasn t a table set for them. they didn t come through the door. but they, certainly, found a window to come in. but nick s mother, kimberly brady, was determined, even through her own grief, not to make up her mind, until she d heard all the facts. i kept an open mind, because if he was fearful for his life, i couldn t fault him for
haile or nick? still, nothing. by friday afternoon, they were out of their minds with worry. i mean, we called and called and called. no answers. no nothing. we kept getting the voicemails. and i was like, nick, this is getting serious. you know, we i started crying, on one of em. and i was like, you better not be making fun of me. this better not be a joke. yeah. before the day was over, the family would find out, this was no joke. something terrible had happened to nick and haile but it wasn t a car crash or an accident. it was something, no one in little falls, could have seen coming. across town, police gather at a crime scene. and concerned neighbors fear the worst. coming up just worry and panic like something s wrong. someone else had, also, met with trouble that-thanksgiving day. the deadly kind. when
and as it turned out, a thief. after the shootings, authorities determined nick had been behind one of those previous burglaries at byron s house. just a month earlier, he and a friend broke through this door and stole thousands of dollars in cash and priceless-family heirlooms. and more disturbingly, two guns. they took things that were really important to him, personally. yes. and then, when he took the guns, he thought he was going to get shot by his own guns. he was extremely afraid. to the sergeant, it all looked like a classic case of trouble-making kids crossing a line into dangerous, criminal behavior. you have two teenagers that seem to be running kind of rampant. you can, obviously, see that they had a change in their lives. and in fact, when investigators located nick s car parked on a secluded road near byron smith s home. they found items stolen from another house. maybe, it was the motivation of money and having material items. maybe, it was the
around little falls, minnesota. that two teenagers had broken into byron smith s house. leaving the terrified homeowner no choice but to shoot them, in self-defense. his friends and neighbors, john and kathy lange, had no trouble believing it. what was scary, it was very personal to him because they were really attacking his home. but the family of those intruders. they were in shock. i didn t believe it. i thought it was completely not right or untrue. teenaged cousins, nick brady and haile kifer had gone missing the day before, thanksgiving. now, as she learned the circumstances of her son s death, nick s mother had so many questions. how do you reconcile, in your head, your beautiful boy, who loves the outdoors, and what they re telling you, that he broke into somebody s house? i just, i couldn t imagine it. it just was so not him. so you just couldn t reconcile? yeah. i had a lot of
those other break-ins. but this time, he was. as seen on this home-security camera. he said he had moved his truck a few blocks away, that morning, so he could clean his garage. the teens must have thought he wasn t there. i needed to clean out the garage, and i wanted it out of the way for a while. byron told him how he was in the basement when he heard the first intruder break in, upstairs, and head down toward him. you heard footsteps coming down the stairs, is that correct? yes, and then i saw his feet. and then, i saw his legs. and when i saw his hips, i shot. it was nick. byron shot him three times. i was reacting. okay. what were you reacting to? is what i m asking. the threat, the previous losses. i spent 20 years overseas. a couple years in bangkok. several years in cairo. 20 years overseas. not one problem. and i retire to my peaceful hometown. while byron s voice broke a few times during his account of