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Byron David Smith was convicted of first degree premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting unarmed cousins Nicholas Brady, 17, and Haile Kifer, 18, in his Little Falls, Minnesota, home on Thanksgiving Day in 2012.

Smith was 64 years old in November 2012. A retired United States State Department security engineering officer, he lived alone on Elm Street in Little Falls, Morrison County. Smith said his home had been burglarized several times in the preceding months. He reported one burglary to the sheriff's office, and investigators found evidence of earlier break-ins. Items taken included cash, coins, a chainsaw and a watch that had belonged to his father.

On November 22, 2012, Smith parked his vehicle at a neighboring property and returned home. He removed light bulbs in the basement, switched on an audio recorder and sat in a chair hidden from view of the stairs. Brady entered through a window and walked down the basement stairs, where Smith shot him. About 10 to 15 minutes later, Kifer came down the same stairs and Smith shot her. Smith moved both bodies to another part of the basement. He did not call law enforcement that day, and the bodies remained in the house overnight.

On November 23, 2012, Smith called a neighbor and asked for help finding a lawyer. The neighbor contacted the Morrison County Sheriff's Office, and deputies found the bodies. Smith was arrested at his residence. Beginning at 2:59 p.m. that afternoon, a sergeant investigator interviewed him at the sheriff's office. News reporting identified the case's lead investigator as Jeremy Luberts, then a Morrison County sheriff's sergeant. The investigator confirmed Smith's name, date of birth and address, noted that he was under arrest, and read him the Miranda warning. Smith said he understood each right and waived his right to a lawyer, saying he did so considering the circumstances. He said he fired more shots than he needed to and described giving Kifer what he called a "good clean finishing shot" to the head. He also said Kifer laughed after falling down the stairs.

Smith had recorded roughly six hours of basement audio that became the central evidence in the case. It captured the shootings and his remarks between and after them, including a reference to the teenagers as "vermin," and did not support his account that Kifer laughed. Autopsy evidence showed close range wounds. Prosecutors also cited statements Smith recorded before the break-in.

Smith was initially charged with two counts of second degree murder. In April 2013, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of first degree premeditated murder. His trial began April 21, 2014, in Morrison County District Court, where he argued self defense under Minnesota law on the use of force in the home. After deliberating about three hours, the jury found him guilty on April 29, 2014, of two counts of first degree premeditated murder and two counts of second degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on March 9, 2016. A federal district court denied Smith's claim that he had been denied a public trial, the Eighth Circuit affirmed, and the United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case on March 22, 2021. Smith is serving his sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. He later sued Luberts and publisher Beaver's Pond Press over Luberts' 2023 book about the investigation, Murder on Elm Street, alleging defamation. Morrison County District Judge Meriel B. Lester dismissed the lawsuit on April 10, 2026.

The video is a police interview-room recording that runs about 63 minutes. It shows the interview itself, without narration or a presenter.