Teen Burglary Turns Deadly & Caught on Camera… Self-Defense or Ambush?! | The Elm Street Murders

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🗓️ 25 November 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

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Summary

A retired security engineer, a small Minnesota town, and two teens who picked the wrong house on Thanksgiving Day—what happened in Byron Smith’s basement has been debated for more than a decade as one of the most chilling self-defense cases in America. Sponsors Treat yourself or someone special to the most comfortable and innovative bras on earth this holiday season. Save 20% off sitewide at https://honeylove.com/HIDDEN Sources: https://www.justiceforbyronsmith.com/further-information https://www.10minutemurder.com/blog/thanksgiving-day-2012-how-byron-smith-executed-two-teen-burglars/ https://youtu.be/rgwIKrsE3M0?si=NuNaiwDGYRdZv8s7 https://youtu.be/waswKMganjI?si=yvZsxn1CrS8ZRnlo https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/your-verdict-neighbor-kills-two-teens-breaking-in-his-house-self-defense-or-revenge-based-on-the-movie-dont-breathe.4874745/page-2 https://www.startribune.com/little-falls-trial-pits-the-right-of-self-defense-vs-murder/255041461 https://www.emblombrennyfuneral.com/obituaries/nicholas-brady https://podcasts.happyscribe.com/dateline-nbc/12-minutes-on-elm-street https://www.hometownsource.com/morrison_county_record/news/local/two-lf-teens-charged-in-connection-with-burglary-of-smith/article_5f271cba-81b6-507e-a229-3df72c8c39c9.html https://www.hometownsource.com/morrison_county_record/news/publicsafety/kriesel-convicted-of-meth-possession-sentence-stayed/article_6bd14ba1-ce93-539f-bd19-0c76d47a4d7a.html https://www.10minutemurder.com/blog/thanksgiving-day-2012-how-byron-smith-executed-two-teen-burglars/ https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-633/159775/20201105123712731_Petition.pdf https://www.kare11.com/article/news/crime/byron-smith-testifies-in-restitution-appeal/89-105774134 Star Tribunehttps://www.startribune.comIn Little Falls trial, Byron Smith finally testifies, breaks down on stand https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20-633_f2qg.pdf https://www.justiceforbyronsmith.com/the-ambush- https://www.grandforksherald.com/newsmd/witnesses-testify-they-saw-fear-in-smith-in-days-before-littls-falls-shooting https://www.justiceforbyronsmith.com/about https://www.oxygen.com/dateline-the-smoking-gun/crime-news/byron-david-smith-fatally-shoots-haile-kifer-nicholas-brady https://www.startribune.com/bail-lowered-for-man-accused-of-killing-2-little-falls-teens/183841961 https://youtu.be/b7-xa9VHBgY?si=XTulloNSqH8Via5H https://youtu.be/7SxydkG1Zw8?si=PQVnPfTbL783J5gr https://youtu.be/BtznJOJaXkE?si=qeqvn0EgwBoPqD_G https://truecrimenews.com/2018/04/19/retired-security-expert-kills-unarmed-teen-burglars-records-reaction-waits-24-hours-to-report/ https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/smith-byron-david.htm https://www.startribune.com/slain-teenage-cousins-linked-to-an-earlier-little-falls-break-in/181119611 https://themurderblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/12/case2-the-castle-doctrine-murders-how-much-force-is-reasonable-force/ https://ccwsafe.com/resources/byron-david-smith-part-1-the-limits-of-home-defense/ https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/171965/smith-v-united-states/ https://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2014/09/11/letter-testimony-smith-hearing-raises-questions/15483825/ https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/man-serving-life-sentence-for-double-homicide-sues-author-publishing-company-over-book-on-his-case/ https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/171965/smith-v-united-states https://law.justia.com/cases/indiana/court-of-appeals/2019/18a-cr-1732.html https://www.justice.gov/osg/brief/united-states-v-smith-petition-0 https://themurderblog.wordpress.com/2017/08/12/case2-the-castle-doctrine-murders-how-much-force-is-reasonable-force https://www.startribune.com/questions-tear-at-those-who-knew-two-slain-little-falls-teens/180785621 https://youtu.be/rR_enPmJ9I4?si=kNXXNMtZnZCXzYxO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Some cases make us take a hard look at what people do when they're scared or angry and push
0:05.4	us to question just how far someone should be able to go when they say they're defending
0:10.4	their home. And few cases bring that debate into sharper focus than what happened in
0:16.3	Littlefield's Minnesota on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. It began the way many rural crime stories do,
0:23.9	a homeowner on edge after a series of break-ins and two teenagers who made a dangerous life-altering
0:30.1	choice. Haley Kiefer and her cousin Nicholas Brady broke into the home of 64-year-old
0:36.7	Byron David Smith, likely expecting to grab what they
0:40.2	could and get out. But what they found instead was a man waiting, a man who would later say
0:45.2	he genuinely believed he had reached his breaking point. What unfolded in Byron's basement was
0:51.7	anything but simple. And it forces us to ask, in moments of extreme
0:56.2	fear, how do we truly judge whether someone's response is proportional or excessive?
1:02.0	Prosecutors argued that this wasn't a split-second act of self-defense. They pointed to audio
1:07.6	recordings Byron had set up inside his home recordings that captured footsteps,
1:12.0	the confrontation, and the gunshots. To them, the tapes revealed deliberate actions that went
1:17.2	far beyond what the law considers reasonable force. But many people see it differently. Could fear
1:23.8	alone justify decisions that, in hindsight, seem calculated? To this day, some argue that
1:29.6	Byron was a terrified homeowner who had been repeatedly targeted, someone who reacted after
1:35.0	feeling abandoned by the system. They believe he did what anyone might do in that moment of fear,
1:40.0	maybe even what they themselves would have done. And yet, the moral lines remain blurred.
1:46.2	When does fear become justification for lethal action?
1:49.7	Since the trial, the divide around this case is never really closed.
1:53.1	Supporters say Byron should be freed and that his actions were justified.
	...

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