Agent testifies he searched home where teens shot
LITTLE FALLS, Minn. (AP) — Authorities who searched the home of a central Minnesota man who shot and killed two teens testified they found an audio recorder that was on, an operating surveillance system, and a device that blocked cellphone calls.
Sixty-five-year-old Byron Smith is on trial for first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady. He claims he feared for his life and shot them in self-defense when they came into his house on Thanksgiving Day 2012.
But prosecutors say he planned the killings.
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Special Agent William Bennett testified Wednesday that he searched the house and found an audio recorder on a bookshelf. He says the recorder was turned on.
Prosecutors played evidence from the recorder Tuesday that captured the moments of the killings.
