← Going West: True Crime
Going West: True Crime
Murder on Elm Street // 554
00:54:20
On Thanksgiving Day, 2012, the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota was quiet and calm, with most people home enjoying the holiday and staying out of the snowstorm that was descending upon them. But inside one modest home on Elm Street, something unimaginable was about to unfold when a break-in turned into one of the most puzzling double murders in state history. What investigators later uncovered would blur the lines between self-defense and vengeance, and leave an entire community asking how far is too far to go for retribution. These are the murders of Haile Kifer and Nick Brady.
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- [00:01]
Narrator/Advertiser
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Heath
Experian.
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- [00:58]
Heath
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- [00:59]
Daphne
Oh, right this way.
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- [01:34]
Byron Smith (voice recording)
Foreign.
- [01:39]
Daphne
What is going on? True crime fans, I'm your host he.
- [01:42]
Heath
And I'm your host Daphne.
- [01:43]
Daphne
And you're listening to Going West.
- [01:46]
Heath
Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well today. Thank you so much for tuning in. Man, do we have a tale for.
- [01:52]
Daphne
You today and a little fair warning here that today's case is very controversial and we know that and you guys will probably feel the same way. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of comments on each side of the aisle here. So yeah, we're gonna just try and keep to the facts as much as we can today.
- [02:11]
Heath
Yes, I will say as well, for anybody who saw the 2016 horror movie Don't Breathe, this story will probably feel quite familiar. Even though weirdly, the filmmakers never stated any influences for their movie. But I would find it very hard to believe that today's story that takes place only a few years before the movie was made did not inspire it in some way.
- [02:33]
Daphne
Yeah, there is quite a bit of parallel between the two things much so.
- [02:38]
Heath
Well, without further ado.
- [02:40]
Daphne
Alright guys, this is episode 554 of Going West. So let's get into it.
- [03:23]
Heath
On Thanksgiving Day 2012, the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota was called Quiet and calm, with most people home enjoying the holiday and staying out of the snowstorm that was descending upon them. But inside one modest home on Elm street, something unimaginable was about to unfold when a break in turned into one of the most puzzling double murders in state history. What investigators later uncovered would blur the lines between self defense and vengeance and leave an entire community asking how far is too far for retribution. These are the murders of Haley Kiefer and Nick Brady. Hailey Keifer was born on October 17, 1994 in Little Falls, Minnesota, which is a small city. Many would probably call it a town more of that kind of feel of only about 9,000 people, located roughly two hours northwest of Minneapolis. To quote a 2020 review of Little Falls on Niche.com to give a potential overall vibe of where today's story takes place. Because I do like to look at niche sometimes, a former resident said. Quote Beautiful river, nice trees, good schools, too many churches and people that write chain letters and such. I thought that was kind of funny. And it was there in Little Falls that Haley joined parents Jenny and Jay Kiefer and a brother named Dylan. She's described as vivacious and bubbly by her family and growing up, Hayley was a gifted athlete who was involved in many school sports like softball, swimming, gymnastics and track and was known to be quite competitive. She also enjoyed taking advantage of the lush outdoors that Minnesota had to offer like camping, fishing and just spending time in nature with her tight knit family. Outside of school and family obligations, she kept quite busy working a few part time jobs. In autumn of 2012 when today's story takes place, 18 year old Haley was in her senior year of high school and was very close with many members of her family, but most of all her cousin 17 year old Nick Brady, who is said to have been her best friend. Now Nicholas Brady was born on March 21, 1995 to parents Kimberly and Jason and a sister named Rachel. Like Haley, he spent his whole life in Little Falls, Minnesota, but where Haley was a senior, he was actually a junior in high school. He loved taekwondo, wrestling and working on cars, including his pride and joy which was a red Mitsubishi which he'd rebuilt himself. His obituary reads. Quote he also enjoyed a good laugh and his smile could light up a room. His family fondly remembers his super goofy side and said that he served as the comedic relief in his family along with Haley. He was very active and adventurous and he loved spending time outdoors so it.
- [06:55]
Daphne
Does kind of make sense that Haley and Nick spent their last day together on the evening of Wednesday, November 21, 2012. They stayed over at a friend's apartment, leaving the next morning around 11:00am Thursday, November 22, 2012 was Thanksgiving and Hayley and Nick's extended family was planning on gathering at their grandma's house for dinner. And naturally, as many families do, but Hailey and Nick took a detour and never showed up for the family meal. Well, hours went by with no word from them and their family began to grow concerned. You know, this is a holiday, they should have been there. And their absence just didn't make any sense. And in addition to missing dinner, neither of the teens were answering their phones. So as it got later and darker, the weather turned bitter cold and snow began to fall. And their families started to really worry that because of the weather, maybe Hailey and Nick had been in a car accident. None of their friends had heard from them or seen them, and all calls to their phones continued to go to voicemail Friday morning. So this was Black Friday brought the news that a red car had been involved in a bad accident. And their families waited anxiously to hear the identity of the victims, but found that it had been a different car. So obviously, you know, this is a slight relief. But Haley and Nick were still missing. So their families filed missing persons reports with the Little Falls Police Department. And shortly after they would get the answers that they sought, though it would not be the outcome that they were hoping for. Police arrived to break the news to Hailey and Nick's families that the teenagers had been shot dead the day prior. I mean, everybody was in shock, wondering how the hell they found themselves in the position to be gunned down so suddenly on Thanksgiving Day. Well, gently, police revealed that the pair had actually broken into a local home and that the owner had defended himself by shooting them dead. Nick's mom, Kimberly remembered being totally dumbfounded by hearing this, saying, I just, I just couldn't imagine it. It was just so not him.
- [09:16]
Heath
Yeah. So their families are listening in disbelief as police are filling them in on as many details as they could. But a lot of the story was still pretty fuzzy at this point. Now, shockingly, Nick knew the man whose home he had broken into as he had done yard work for him in the past. And this man, Byron Smith, had been the one who shot Haley and Nick on the afternoon of Thanksgiving. Byron was a 64 year old retiree who had grown up in Little Falls, so you know, they all lived there their whole lives. But he did move away for Many years. He had actually only just moved back to his hometown five years prior. Byron was a Vietnam veteran who spent decades working for the U.S. state Department and had been stationed all over the world, including Cairo, Egypt, Bangkok, Thailand, Dakar, Senegal and Moscow, Russia among others. He never married and never had any kids. His only close family was his mother who had died a few years prior to. Well, he also did have a brother, but specifically said that he wanted to spend Thanksgiving at his own house and at nobody else's. He was, he's kind of a recluse. But also, according to his neighbors, Byron was colorful and worldly. He was a friendly presence in Little Falls, who even volunteered with a local Boy Scout troop. However, in the months leading up to that fateful Thanksgiving, Byron's demeanor shifted to panic and paranoia as he claimed to have been tormented by a series of break ins. On October 29, 2012, nearly a month before Byron shot Haley and Nick in his home, he reported multiple burglaries to the police and asked them to investigate further. But the police sadly dropped the ball on doing so, which likely helped lead to Haley and Nick's fate. But why Byron didn't choose to report each break in individually is kind of a mystery because he only reported them as a collection after multiple had occurred. Basically, Byron told the police that he had been robbed at least six times in the months prior, but police were only able to confirm reports of one or two instances. So as word of Haley and Nick's deaths are kind of swirling around town, rumors persisted that 17 year old Nick had been fired from his job after breaking into the home and stealing from Byron the prior to what happened on Thanksgiving Day. So it's almost like his job found out that he had been stealing from somebody and they didn't want any part of that. So then a lot of people in town started wondering if this was motive for the killing, like whether Nick felt like he had a score to settle on Thanksgiving Day and that's why he went back there. Well, as the families of Haley and Nick were receiving this devastating and very confusing news, Byron was brought into the police station to try to explain what had happened the afternoon prior. And by the way, just to give you guys a little visual, Byron lived in a three bedroom, two bathroom, two story house. It's on a pretty rural street. There are other homes nearby, but not many and not directly next to him. His house actually faced a patch of woods across the street and his backyard backed up against the Mississippi River. So being positioned at the end of this street as he was there was a lot of nature surrounding his property and his home was down a long private driveway. So it makes sense that nobody witnessed this crime. He did not have a neighbor across the street or next door. But if you do want visuals, check out our socials. But yeah, he, he was right up the road from a suburban neighborhood and the city like the downtown of Little Falls, he wasn't out in the boondocks.
- [13:12]
Daphne
Now, at 12:34pm on Thursday, November 21, Thanksgiving security cameras at Byron's home, located on Elm street captured two figures, one male and one female, casing the outside of the red brick home, which like Daphne said, was perched on the banks of the Mississippi river at the end of a long driveway with a private entrance. And though he couldn't prove it, Byron believed that the same pair of teenagers had been responsible for all of the recent break ins at his home. He told police that he had been gripped in fear for his life. But the scene told a slightly different story by Byron's explanation. He had been reading in his chair downstairs when he heard glass break upstairs. He waited anxiously as he heard someone tromping down his staircase. And as soon as he saw 17 year old Nick's hips descend toward him, Byron fired the first shot using his Ruger Mini 14 rifle. So Nick lost his footing and tumbled down the stairs. And then Byron shot him two more times, ensuring that he was deceased. He then dragged Nick's body to his workshop nearby, placing him on a tarp in order to get him out of the way. And then he sat back down in his chair to collect himself. But when he heard someone else descending the stairs, he prepared to shoot again. This time he fired a shot at 18 year old Haley who tumbled down the stairs and fell to the ground. She was actually shot five more times, including a shot in her eye and directly under her chin. There was a delay before the final shot as the gun jammed and she apparently lay beneath him on the ground laughing at him, which apparently enraged Byron. He explained in his interrogation, it jammed, the trigger clicked and she laughed at me. So Byron pulled out another gun, this time a.22 caliber nine shot revolver, and shot her again, explaining, quote, if you're trying to shoot someone and they laugh at you, you go again, right? I mean that's a psychopathic thing to say.
- [15:31]
Heath
Also, before you're about to say what you're about to say, it's, it's kind of hard to believe this off the bat that A girl, an 18 year old girl, gets shot three times and.
- [15:41]
Daphne
She'S laughing well, he described the shot that killed her as a, quote, good, clean finishing shot with a gun placed beneath her chin and shot up into her cranium. But like Daphne was just saying, you know, this is very hard to believe. And investigators later called the detail of Haley's laughter into question, especially after discovering that Byron had recorded himself committing these murders. And it certainly did not sound like she had been laughing at him at all. Instead, she could be heard saying, oh, my God. Breathing heavily and screaming in fear. So in total, let's recap here. Nick was shot three times and Haley was shot six.
- [16:27]
Heath
Yeah. And as disturbing as it is, we do want to play the audio from the break in because it really paints the most accurate scene, really, of what happened. And it proves that Byron was lying about some of his story. And we also think just based on, like, what he whispers afterwards, because there's a lot that he says, it's not just the gunshots and screams. Like, this guy had some serious paranoia. So we do want to give you a little bit of a warning because you are going to hear Nick and Haley scream. But here is that clip. You're dead.
- [17:37]
Daphne
Oh, sorry about that. You're dying.
- [18:01]
Sponsor/Advertiser
Cute.
- [18:02]
Byron Smith (voice recording)
I'm sure she thought she was a real pro. I feel a little bit safer. Not totally safe. I'm still shaking a bit. But a little bit safer. I refuse to live in fear. I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I felt like I was cleaning up a mess. Not like spilled food, not like vomit, not even like it. Not even like diarrhea. The worst mess possible in some tiny little respect. I was doing my civic duty because the law enforcement system wouldn't handle it. I had to do it. I had to do it. They weren't human. I don't see them as human. I see them as vermin. This bitch was going to go through her life spoiling things for other people. Thieving, robbing, drug. It's all fun, cool and exciting and highly profitable. Until somebody kills you. Like I give a damn who she is. I'm sorry. So much you regret. I try to be a good person. I try to do what I should. Be friendly to other people. Help them when I can. Try to be a good citizen, not cheat people, Be fair. And because I try to be a decent person, they think I'm a pansy, 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 if I gather enough evidence, they might be prosecuted. If they're prosecuted, it might go to court. If it goes to court, they might be found guilty. If they're found guilty, they might spend six months, two years in jail, and then they're out. And they need money worse than ever and they're filled with revenge. I cannot live a life like that. I cannot have that chewing on me for the rest of my life.
- [21:23]
Daphne
I cannot.
- [21:24]
Byron Smith (voice recording)
I cannot. I refuse to live with that level of.
- [21:29]
Daphne
And again, I just want to mention that we are playing this because this was actually used later in court. And so that was a big factor in how this trial went.
- [21:39]
Heath
Well, something I want to go back to first. There's a lot to unpack in that recording. But something that really stuck out to me at first is after he shoots Haley, he says, oh, sorry about that. And then he shoots her more. And then he says, bitch. And it's like, wait, what? What just happened?
- [21:58]
Daphne
I think, I think the after that first shot, he's kind of like, he's kind of toying with her. He's being kind of smug by saying, oops, sorry about that. You know, it's kind of like so like reactionary, you know, it's very sarcastic in its nature.
- [22:12]
Heath
Well, then he says, and the law enforcement system wouldn't handle it. I had to do it. So he's saying, you know, he reported the break ins a couple times. So now he's almost trying to make himself feel better. Like, I had to do this. It was my civic duty to kill them. And then specifically, seemingly is talking about Haley and says that she was going to ruin things for other people with her thieving and robbing and drug use. Like, he's acting like, oh, I cleaned up the trash here, like I did a good thing.
- [22:44]
Daphne
Yeah, he kind of sees himself as like Batman here, like some sort of vigilante justice, that he's cleaning up the streets because police really won't do it. He is also in this, in this recording justifying the fact that, you know, if it goes to court and they're found guilty, then they're only gonna spend a small amount of time behind bars and then they're gonna be out, they're gonna be looking for revenge. So in his mind he's saying, well, I had to kill him because A, they're not gonna get, you know, I'm not gonna get any justice. They're not gonna go to jail for a long time, and B, they're gonna come after me afterwards after they get out.
- [23:21]
Heath
Yeah. So he's acting like this was the only way I did what I had to do. It's not my fault. And then it's really interesting though that all of this is even being said that he's whispering because it's clear, especially if he's whispering, that he knows that he's near the recording device. He knows that it's being recorded. Obviously he's the one recording it. So it's, it's almost like he knows this audio is going to be found and he's trying to defend himself while he has the chance right after it happened.
- [23:50]
Daphne
But of course they're gonna look at a lot of different factors, how many times he shot the gun. Like for example, you know, when Haley was coming down the stairs, she was shot once. It was very clear probably at that point to Byron that she was not armed, she didn't have a gun or anything on her, she was incapacitated. But then he continues to shoot, which we are going to talk about later. We will get into that. But for now, let's put a pin in it.
- [24:16]
Heath
Yeah, there's really a lot to, to weigh and look at as as far as that goes. Which is why again, like you said, he we wanted to play this recording because knowing what he is saying and what's going through his head as he's killing Haley and Nick is super important. Hearing the glass break, even knowing that the recording was already happening, like there's really a lot to unpack. But after killing them, Byron then closed the door so he didn't have to look at their bodies and returned about an hour later to check their pulses in order to make sure that they were dead.
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Daphne
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Heath
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- [26:49]
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- [27:28]
Heath
Like I said before that break after killing Nick and Haley, checking their bodies for a pulse an hour later, Byron mused that he would have to replace the carpet. He freely admitted to shooting and killing the teens to police, just like he did in the recording as well, but maintained that he had acted in self defense. He also acknowledged that perhaps his background in security led to increased paranoia about his situation, but claimed that he had felt like a prisoner in his own home over the past few months and that he feared that he would suffer a break in every time he left the house. He started locking up his valuables and carrying a gun on his person because he was so gripped in fear. He alleged that he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks and lately had become fearful for his life. He believed Nick to be behind the series of break ins, though police could only officially link one of them to Nick, but that does prove Nick had done it before. Upon this confession, police found Nick's beloved red Mitsubishi parked on a side street near Byron's house and when it was searched, there were items inside that had been reported missing from Byron's home. Additionally, there was proof that he had broken into a second home in the area as well. On the night before the shootings. Police were dispatched to Byron's neighborhood after he reported a suspicious vehicle nearby, and inside that vehicle was Nick, who claimed that his car had run out of gas and that his cousin Haley had gone to a nearby gas station to get more fuel. The officer then gave Nick a ride into town and Left the car parked in that neighborhood.
- [29:17]
Daphne
So obviously after, you know, Nick and Haley were killed, the police found Nick's car. They're looking through it, and they're finding items from this other house that Nick robbed.
- [29:27]
Heath
Yeah. Proving that Nick is kind of like a serial thief at this point. He's burglarizing many homes. They knew he had done it to Byron prior to breaking in on Thanksgiving Day. That is why this case is so tough. You know, the audio clip that we played says a lot.
- [29:46]
Sponsor/Advertiser
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- [29:46]
Heath
It's hard because from Byron's mindset, he was defending his home that was being broken into. This man didn't deserve to be the subject of a robbery or the multiple robberies that he had been facing. But I think the reason this case is so perplexing is his mindset and his reaction to the break in that Thanksgiving day and kind of that callousness that we heard in that audio.
- [30:11]
Daphne
Yeah, Especially as the details keep unraveling here. Well, days later, on Sunday, November 25, the police department received a report from a local man named Richard Johnson, who had been in Spain for the holiday week and returned to find his home ransacked. Several items were reported missing from the home, and his sliding glass door had been shattered. Inside Nick's car, there were six prescription pill bottles bearing Richard's name, proving that Nick had been the burglar. Rachel, Nick's sister, also reported that he had stolen medication from her in the days preceding his death, lending a possible motive to his crime. Although the teens had not been armed, Byron claimed that he had been fearful because one of the break ins resulted in missing guns from his arsenal. And he was worried that possibly the culprits would return with those guns to kill him for the items inside his house. Now, he did replace the guns that they stole and armed himself inside the home on a daily basis, bearing down for another attack. He said in his interrogation, whoever it was who was breaking into my house had been doing it for so long that I was no longer willing to live in fear. These are people who have stolen my guns, and I figure they're willing to use them if they stole those guns. Now, in addition to the guns, he accused the teens of taking thousands of dollars in cash, a chainsaw, collectible coins, and the watch that had been handed down to him by his father, which his father had received after being a prisoner of war. So obviously, this meant a lot to Byron. Now, Byron would later claim that the dollar amount of the goods that had been taken from his house exceeded $50,000, though there's really no way to determine if this is true or just mere conjecture on his part.
- [32:09]
Heath
Well, one of the most disturbing details of the afternoon that Haley and Nick were killed was that Byron had waited about 24 hours to contact anybody for assistance, meaning that he spent Thanksgiving night with the two bodies in his home. When asked why he waited, he said simply that he didn't want to ruin the Thanksgiving holiday for the deputies on duty that day. Very thoughtful. Well, around 11:30am on Friday, November 23, 2012, nearly 24 hours exactly since the shooting took place, Byron finally called somebody for help, though even then he declined to report the shooting to police. Instead, he called a friend and neighbor, a guy named Bill Anderson, who called around to a few lawyers at Byron's request. But when all the law offices were still closed for the holiday, they then contacted authorities who reported to Byron's home. And then he was brought back in for questioning that afternoon. Again, this is Friday. By Byron's account, he had been spending the holiday alone because since losing his mom, he explained that he had no desire to spend the day with any remaining friends or family, like I said, citing that it made him uncomfortable. So he planned to spend a quiet day reorganizing his garage. And in order to do so, he claims that he moved his car to a location down the street from his home. But this actually raised red flags for investigators who questioned why he needed to place the car so far from the property when he had such a large plot of land, a garage, and a long, flat driveway.
- [33:55]
Daphne
I mean, yeah, you would imagine with the length of the driveway that he has, he could just move it towards the end of the driveway, but he moved it down the street or just.
- [34:04]
Heath
Literally move it out of the garage. Like, if you're cleaning the garage, you don't need to move the car across the road, even.
- [34:10]
Daphne
Yeah. So this really is not adding up.
- [34:12]
Heath
Just like pull it out of the garage and I will post pictures on our socials so you guys can see the driveway. And maybe you're wondering why this is even relevant, but police felt that this kind of created notions of a. Of sense setup. You know, this is really kind of plaguing the suspicions of investigators at this point who are wondering if Byron moved his car specifically to lure the intruders into his trap. Because like we had said earlier, Byron said, every time I leave my house, or he was worried every time he left his house that a break in would happen. So they're like, okay, so did you make it seem like you weren't home so that you could be like waiting, you know, lying in wait in your house for the break in to happen just so you can deal with it. Like he said, vigilante justice.
- [35:01]
Daphne
Yeah. It kind of felt like he was trying to maybe lure the teens. I mean, I will say they did. If that was a trap, they did fall for it. But, you know, was this kind of pre. What's the word for it?
- [35:15]
Heath
Premeditated.
- [35:16]
Daphne
That's what I. I don't know. My brain is not working fully. Yeah, premeditated. Was this like a premeditated plan to kind of trap these teens?
- [35:24]
Heath
Yeah. So police are taking all of this into account. That week, Hailey and Nick's families held a joint funeral for the teens as their loved ones were still reeling from losing them so suddenly and in such a shocking way. Even Nick's mom, Kimberly, admitted what her son had done was wrong and maintained that it felt out of character for him. Like I said, this was such a shock. Their parents didn't know them to be thieves. So to learn that they were on the very day that they were killed, and they were killed because they went to break into a house, they're just like, who are you're talking about? My kid. You know, this is really confusing to them.
- [36:03]
Daphne
This kind of reminds me of a situation that happened in my own hometown where I don't want to say who it is, but some, some kids that I knew had broken into a kind of a prominent person's house in my city. And it was like, whoa. Like, we didn't expect those people to do that. It was, it was very strange when the, when the news came out, you know?
- [36:26]
Heath
Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's not who you expect.
- [36:29]
Daphne
Yeah, true.
- [36:30]
Heath
Well, many people had very favorable things to say about this pair. Like you might have to say about the guys you're talking about Heath. But some others were a little bit less forgiving. Some people admitted that Nick was somewhat of a bully around his high school and that he often came off as abrasive and aggressive.
- [36:52]
Daphne
Well, at this time, Little Falls was in the throes of a battle with opioid addiction, and Haley and Nick were suspected of stealing in order to find drugs. But there really is no hard evidence of this. And although Nick's toxicity screening came back clean, Hayley did test positive for an ingredient found in cough syrup, dextromethorphan, which would have made her feel kind of intoxicated. She also had trace amounts of a non hallucinogenic marijuana metabolite, which basically just means that she had some cannabis in her system, but that she was likely not impaired by it at the time of her death. So it more so just kind of points to recent use. Meanwhile, with so many damning details, 64 year old Byron was arrested, but was quickly released on bail. So he moved in with neighbors temporarily so that his house could be thoroughly investigated, because obviously they've got a crime scene here that they need to investigate. His neighbors, the Langs recall that he would be up pacing in his room late at night, talking to the teens, apologizing and crying. Now, as we know, Byron had recorded the entire ordeal, perhaps as vengeance or possibly to keep for his own listening enjoyment later. But he didn't reveal that he had recorded the murders and their aftermath until he was further questioned by police. But this was one of the most damning indications of premeditation that there could possibly be.
- [38:22]
Heath
Yeah, it's really interesting because it's not like they broke in and he started recording for his own safety. We heard the glass breaking. He was already recording when they broke in. Which also makes us wonder if he lured them to the house by moving his car because he knew they were going to break in that day and he was literally waiting.
- [38:45]
Daphne
Well, as you guys could probably guess, investigators found a small recording device on a bookshelf in the basement. And this is where the murders happened to take place. And it had recorded six hours of material before, during and after the murders. So about a half an hour before the teens came over to the house, Byron began the recording. And while talking to himself, he mumbled, in your left eye. Which is a very eerie detail given that Haley was later shot in in her left eye. And for those who did actually listen to that recording, you'll recall that after shooting Nick, he exclaimed, you're dead. And after shooting Haley, he said.
- [39:48]
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- [40:40]
Daphne
Oh, right this way.
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Heath
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- [41:17]
Heath
For hours after he killed Haley and Nick, Byron mumbled and rambled to himself, coming off as vengeful and manic, as you'll recall from the recording. Already seemingly trying to justify his actions, he told himself that he felt like he had done something noble by taking their lives. And for anybody who didn't listen earlier or who wants to hear just the aftermath again, I do want to play it. Just for a little refresher, here is what he said after Nick and Haley were already dead.
- [41:51]
Byron Smith (voice recording)
Cute. I'm sure she thought she was a real pro. But I feel a little bit safer. Not totally safe. I'm still shaking a bit. But a little bit safer. I refuse to live in fear. I am not a pleading heart liberal. I felt like I was cleaning up a mess. Not like spilled food, not like vomit, not even like it. Not even like diarrhea. The worst mess possible and some tiny I don't respect. I was doing my civic duty because the law enforcement system wouldn't handle it. And I had to do it. I had to do it. They weren't human. I don't see them as human. I see them as vermin. This bitch was going to go through her life spoiling things for other people. Thieving, robbing, drug use. It's all fun, cool, exciting, highly profitable. Until somebody kills you. Like I give a damn who she is. I'm sorry. So much regret. I try to be a good person. I try to do what I should. Be friendly to other people. People help them when I can. Try to be a good citizen. Not cheat people, be fair. And because I try to be a decent person, they think I'm a pansy. 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 if I gather enough evidence, they might be prosecuted. If they're prosecuted, it might go to court. If it goes to court, they might be found guilty. If they're found guilty, they might spend Six months, two years in jail, and then they're out. And they need money worse than ever, and they're filled with revenge. I cannot live a life like that.
- [45:06]
Heath
Now, because he had set up the voice recorder and seemed to be hiding in his armchair in the basement for them to enter, he almost made it too easy for them and seemed to have baited them into coming inside. These details, in addition to his removal of the car from his property, seem to indicate that he had set Haley and Nick up for some sort of vigilante killing. As you can imagine, this case was hotly debated in Little Falls with clear factions forming, and it sparked a debate about Castle doctrine, which states that you are not legally required to retreat when the threat is taking place in your home, and that deadly force is permissible when absolutely necessary.
- [45:53]
Daphne
Yeah, it's kind of like a lot of states have stand your ground laws. That means, you know, if somebody breaks into your house. Yeah, you can shoot them. I think there's. There's some states where even if somebody breaks into your home and you shoot them, they can actually. If they survive, they can actually sue you. Which is what? That's just crazy.
- [46:15]
Heath
I agree. That's insane. But, yeah, actually, I'm glad you brought up stand your ground. So stand your ground actually applies to public places as well. It applies to anywhere that you have a legal right to be. So let's say you're in a public parking lot. This is an example I found online. And you're threatened. You can use deadly force without trying to flee first. Like, if somebody threatens you in a parking lot, you can kill them, essentially.
- [46:41]
Daphne
Yeah. You are allowed to use force.
- [46:44]
Heath
Whereas with Castle doctrine, which is what they have in Minnesota, an intruder breaks into your house. Right. You can use deadly force, but you must attempt to flee first. Like, it's not like, oh, I see them, bam, I can shoot you. You have to try to get away before you do that. But obviously, as shown to us in the recording, he just shot them right when he saw Nick.
- [47:08]
Daphne
Right. It was not a last resort for Byron.
- [47:12]
Heath
Yeah, it wasn't, quote, absolutely necessary. So it's just very important that we are following the law, per the state of Minnesota, for when this story takes place, because that is the whole basis of this crime.
- [47:26]
Daphne
Right. And a lot of people are going to have a lot of different opinions. So if you do have an opinion on this, you can comment on our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwestpodcast. We're also on Facebook. Let us know what you think.
- [47:38]
Heath
Yeah, I mean, a lot of people have a lot to say, of course, because some people say, well, he was defending his property and he had the right to do so. But again, that's why we are pointing out the law, because that is what they have to go by in this particular case for this particular state. So there, there's quite a bit of doubt rising about Byron's need, you know, for going the lengths that he did to defend himself and why this was how he saw fit to handle the issue of the break ins. You know, why not install an alarm system or more cameras or better locks or whatever. Because it seemed like he reported the break in one or two times over the last few months. After saying there were six break ins, he reports it one or two times. And then after just one or two times he says, that's it, I'm killing them.
- [48:25]
Daphne
Yeah.
- [48:26]
Heath
Instead of trying to do something else not so fatal first.
- [48:30]
Daphne
And I understand, I can see the frustration of law enforcement really not taking care of the situation because it didn't feel like they did. I mean, even after one break in, you would think that there might have been some things that they could have done to prevent another one from happening. But how, but you know, I guess, yeah, how?
- [48:49]
Heath
That's why it's hard though, because some people also say, well, he only made one or two reports to the police, so there wasn't much they could do just yet. Maybe if he had reported all the break ins, they could have helped more. But it's kind of like it's just your opinion, you know, on, on what you think is, is enough.
- [49:08]
Daphne
And that's why I think this case is just so interesting. We have kind of two wrongs here, you know.
- [49:13]
Heath
Right. Because from Byron's pov, surely he's terrified. He's maybe thinking they're gonna keep doing this and I need to stop them.
- [49:22]
Daphne
Myself and it could escalate and possibly to physical danger for myself.
- [49:27]
Heath
Yes. And that is completely fair. But again, this isn't the Wild West. We gotta account for the modern laws of Minnesota here.
- [49:37]
Daphne
Yep. Well, a grand jury was convened to determine Byron's level of responsibility for this crime. The prosecutors who took up the case argued that this was a case that displayed excessive use of force and premeditation. So Byron was indicted on two counts of first degree murder in April of 2013, and his trial began a year after his arrest. His defense attorney, Steve Meshbasher, claimed that, like Daphne just said, he was fearful and that that was the reason that he hadn't called to report the Deaths of the teens. Steve maintained that Byron felt that he needed to wait in case there were others who were planning to join the teens and continue to attack his household.
- [50:21]
Heath
You would think that he would want to call police even more at that point, like, hey, I need some help here. This happened.
- [50:29]
Daphne
This is why there could be others come quickly.
- [50:32]
Heath
Right? You, you think it would actually give more reason to do the opposite, Right?
- [50:37]
Daphne
Well, to the dismay of the defense, the judge ruled against the admission of evidence proving that Nick had broken into the home before the shooting took place, which was obviously a huge blow to their case. The defense claimed that they also had evidence that Haley and Nick together had broken into another home, but this was not proven. Only Nick is known to have broken into the home of Richard Johnson. In his interrogation, Byron revealed that he actually hadn't known who Hayley was and he had never even heard of her. But instead, he suspected a local teenage girl named Ashley Williams based solely on the fact that his friend Bill Anderson had tipped him off about Ashley. According to Byron, Bill was very active in the local school scene, as he did fundraisers, and was told by somebody else in the school system that they believed they had seen Ashley dressed in fatigues that were stolen from Byron's home. So he's saying, hey, I think this other girl may be the person that was responsible, and it actually wasn't Hailey. Ashley's family were his next door neighbors. So this seemed like a logical conclusion. Byron described Ashley's parents as nasty people and claimed that they had misused and abused people in the area and that he avoided them. But neither she nor her family were found to have any connection to the series of break ins. And the theft of those military fatigues could not be attributed to Ashley.
- [52:08]
Heath
Byron Smith hoped to testify in his own defense, but his attorney advised him not to. Six witnesses were barred from testifying at the trial because a judge ruled that all the evidence they were bringing forward about past indiscretions and break ins was irrelevant. So the courtroom didn't hear about Nick's prior history of breaking into Byron's home and others in the neighborhood, which kind.
- [52:32]
Daphne
Of feels like that would be an important thing to tell the court, you know, because obviously it did hap those things did happen.
- [52:40]
Heath
Yeah, and I think it is. I think it's very relevant to show that he was doing this more habitually. But spoiler alert, it didn't really seem to change people's thoughts on Byron, but basically his team. Byron's team was permitted to bring in a few character witnesses, which included his brother, Bruce Smith, who described his brother as, quote, highly regarded by everyone that's known our family. Two of his neighbors, Kathleen Lang and her son Dylan, also testified, calling him a good neighbor and an honest man. A private investigator who was hired by the defense testified that there was no way that Byron would have been able to see whether or not the teens were armed based on how the staircase was positioned, which would kind of lend more to Byron's belief that he was afraid for his life.
- [53:29]
Daphne
Right, and we will kind of show. We'll. We'll show some pictures of the basement and kind of like what it looked like, because, yeah, you're right, coming down the stairs, until they got to a certain section of the stairs, Byron wouldn't have been able to see them.
- [53:43]
Heath
There's actually an animated reenactment video that goes along with the audio.
- [53:49]
Daphne
Right.
- [53:50]
Heath
We will actually post that on socials, so you guys can kind of see what the scene would have looked like while the crime was taking place. So Byron's defense team maintained that he had exhibited a reasonable use of force against the. The threat that the teens posed. But the admission of the recording, which was played for the jury in court, like Heath mentioned earlier, was so damning and disturbing that the jury found the murders to be overkill and a grotesque use of unnecessary force.
- [54:22]
Daphne
Right, because again, like we talked about earlier, he didn't just shoot the teens to incapacitate them, he was shooting them multiple times to kill.
- [54:30]
Heath
And obviously he had all that angry commentary as well. Thus, Byron Smith was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. After the verdict, the families of both teens expressed their relief, with Nick's grandma, Bonnie Schaeffel, acknowledging that they should not have broken into someone's house, but called Byron a sour, angry old recluse who felt he was above the law, and added that she wished the pair had the chance to grow up and learn from the mistakes they made. Haley's parents echoed this sentiment, but they were too distraught to make a victim impact statement, instead leaving this to Laurie Skipper, Haley's aunt, who told the court, Byron Smith made a conscious choice to shoot and kill our beautiful daughter Haley. The feelings of helplessness are overwhelming.
- [55:26]
Daphne
He and his attorney filed an appeal immediately, immediately upon the conclusion of his first trial, but it was denied in 2016. So he filed two more appeals, including his final appeal, which was denied in 2021. In 2023, Jeremy L. Lubert, who was one of the detectives who worked on the investigation, released a book entitled Murder on Elm street, detailing the crime and its ripple effects in the community. But Byron claimed that it defamed him. And employing his same defense attorney, Steve Meshbescher, leveled a lawsuit against Jeremy L. Lubertz in August of this year, 2025. Among his complaints were sensationalism and inaccuracies that portrayed Byron as the villain. In one section, Jeremy wrote that in the recording of her final moments, Hayley can be heard apologizing to Byron, which Byron says is not true.
- [56:23]
Heath
And to be fair, that is not in the public recording that is available unless there's another version that is. That is different than the one that we played. She didn't laugh, but she also did not apologize. Yes, well, Byron was also furious that Jeremy portrayed him as unstable, paranoid and trigger happy and suggested that he had set up a trap for the kids, which he was saying he did not do. Byron also claimed that both the timeline and the layout of his house were portrayed inaccurately. His lawsuit states, despite this notice, defendants continue to promote, distribute and sell the defamatory book, thereby exacerbating harm to plaintiffs reputation. However, the publisher, Beaver's Pond Press, issued a statement standing behind Jeremy's retelling of the events stating Beaver's Pond Press has deep confidence in the integrity of this book, the author and our work. We're respectfully unable to comment further at this time, but would be glad to share additional details once this case is resolved. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.
- [57:46]
Daphne
Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. So this was definitely a strange case for us to do because we've never really done a case like this, but please let us know your thoughts. Head on over to our socials. We're on Instagram @goingwest podcast. We're also on Facebook. If you want to see the layout of Byron's house and just all the photos associated with this case, go check it out.
- [58:08]
Heath
Yeah, I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on this one. Honestly, it is such a wild story. So thank you guys, guys so much for tuning into this one and we will see you guys again on Tuesday.
- [58:19]
Daphne
All right, guys, so for everybody out.
- [58:21]
Heath
There in the world, don't be a stranger.
- [58:39]
Byron Smith (voice recording)
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Heath
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Heath
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Heath
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Heath
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- [60:31]
Heath
Weird has been happening.
- [60:33]
Sponsor/Advertiser
I get to cut lines.
- [60:34]
Daphne
Oh, right this way.
- [60:36]
Sponsor/Advertiser
Who me?
- [60:37]
Heath
I can stream shows at 30,000ft and I was able to buy reserve tickets for my favorite band.
- [60:46]
Narrator/Advertiser
It's not just you. With T Mobile, everyone can get VIP status. That means access to exclusive events and experiences just for being a customer. At T Mobile, VIP means y o u check out the VIP treatment@t mobile.com benefits.