A man is in custody on Sunday after two cousins who went missing on Thanksgiving Day were found in his basement.
Haile Kifer, 18, and Nicholas Brady, 17, of Little Falls, Minn. disappeared on Thanksgiving day.
The disappearance remained a mystery, until authorities went to the home of Byron David Smith, 64, of Little Falls on a suspicious activity call from a neighbor and Smith told them that the missing teens’ bodies were in the basement.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
In the complaint heard during the arraignment on Monday, Smith told the authorities that he had shot Kifer and Brady, after the teenagers broke into his home.
Smith said he fired when Brady came into view from the waist down, reports CBS News.
Please note, the following details may be disturbing to some.
After the teen fell down the stairs, Smith said he shot him in the face as he lay on the floor.
“I want him dead,” Smith was quoted telling an investigator in the compliant.
Smith said he dragged Brady’s body into his basement workshop, then sat back down on his chair.
A few minutes later Kifer began coming down the stairs. The complaint states he shot her as soon as her hips appeared, and she fell down the steps.
Smith said he tried to shoot her again with his Mini-14 rifle, but that the gun jammed. He heard Kifer laughing, and he took it to mean she was laughing at him.
“Smith stated that it was not a very long laugh because she was already hurting,” according to the complaint.
Smith then said he shot Kifer in the chest several times with a .22-caliber revolver, dragged her next to Schaeffel, and with her still gasping for air, fired a shot under her chin “up into the cranium.”
“Smith described it as ‘a good clean finishing shot,'” according to the compliant, but also said he had fired “more shots than needed to.”
Smith’s brother, Bruce told the Star Tribune that Smith was a retired U.S. State Department worker and he became fearful after his home had been broken into many times. Bruce said not all the burglaries were reported but the most recent one on Oct. 27.
Bruce said that the teens used a lead pipe to break the glass and crawl into the home and surprised Byron who was in the basement workshop as they walked down the stairs.
The Morrison County sheriff’s office reports one break-in on Oct. 27 where Byron reported losing gold coins, two guns, cash, photo equipment and a ring.
Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel said that the circumstances at the scene led police to conclude that Byron’s actions were in excess of simple self-defense.
On Monday, Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf said Smith appeared at the Morrison County District Court and his bail was set at $2 million, reports CBS News.
Kifer was a senior at Little Falls High School and competed in gymnastics and helped manage the boys wrestling team. Brady had attended Little Falls High also, but transferred to Pillager High. Brady had wrestled for Little Falls High before transferring.
Crystal Shaeffel, Nicholas’ sister told the Star Tribune that Brady made good money working for their father’s tree-trimming business and that Kifer had been in treatment for abuse of controlled substances and thought that she might have been after pills. She also stated the Kifer had stolen Adderall pills from her home.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that around 200 people attended a Sunday night vigil at Little Falls High School for Kifer and Brady.
