Execution or defending his home? You make the call

[71buickfreak]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-killed-teens-in-break-in-charged-with-murder

So these kids break into the guys house, which has been previously burglarized, and the guy shoots them as they come down the stairs into his basement, at which point, he gives them the ol' coupe deVille, er I mean coup de gras. He runs his mouth saying he wanted them dead, hit them with a "nice finishing shot", general deplorable stuff. Here is the thing- they were in his home illegally, he has the right to defend his home. I don't think a murder charge is warranted. Should he have "finished them off"? probably not, but if they hadn't broken in, they wouldn't be dead. For the record, I feel the same way about Ersland. We have seen people go to jail for firing warning shots, cops that shoot 9 bystanders, etc. You break into a house or business, you run the risk getting killed. These 2 kids did, don't punish the victim of the initial crime because he lost his wits during a home invasion.

 

[338Shooter]

I couldn't convict him of murder.

 

[Dukester]

I think the first one is legit, but the girl was murder.

 

[Perplexed]

From the linked article:

earful after several break-ins, according to the complaint, Smith said he fired when Brady came into view from the waist down.

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," the complaint quoted Smith telling an investigator.

Smith said he dragged Brady's body into his basement workshop, then sat back down on his chair, and after a few minutes Kifer began coming down the stairs. He said 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 and Kifer laughed at him.

"Smith stated that it was not a very long laugh because she was already hurting," according to the complaint.

Smith said he then shot Kifer in the chest several times with a .22-caliber revolver, dragged her next to Brady, 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 that he acknowledged he had fired "more shots than (he) needed to."

After the first kid fell down the stairs and was laying on the floor, Smith could have been distraught enough to shoot him again - that's understandable. But! Smith then dragged the kid across the floor and went back to sitting in his chair. When the second kid descended the stairs, he shot her, and after his rifle jammed, he pulled a pistol and shot her several times. That part is rather iffy; leaving aside the issue of Smith sitting down to wait for the next person to come downstairs, his admission of shooting a round under her chin so it entered her cranium - after he had dragged her, shot several times and still alive, over next to the other kid - is damning. IMHO, he'll be lucky to be charged with just voluntary manslaughter.

I'm all for defending yourself if someone breaks into your home and tries to descend into the basement where you are. But to act in a manner as Mr. Smith did... this harks back to the Ersland case.

 

[bigcountryok]

So why did he wait 24hrs to call the cops?

Something is wrong with this guy. Dragging the first guy over and shooting him in the face and then shooting the girl under the chin for a finishing shot after she was down is a bit much. There is stopping the threat and there is being judge jury and executioner... That being said this wouldn't have happened if they hadn't have been breaking into the house.

 

[CHenry]

He will fry...
And he should.

 

[71buickfreak]

I certainly admit that this guy went way overboard, but that could also be associated with a temporary loss of sanity, which has certainly been used to get other off a murder charge. This guy has been charged with 2nd degree murder. Manslaughter I can see in this case, but this would have never happened if the initial crime had not been perpetrated by the teens. Sorry, but they should not have done what they did. If you go into a movie theater and yell fire and get trampled in the rush of people leaving, you don't get to sue the movie theater. Don't break into houses and you won't get shot by an old dude who is pissed off that you keep breaking into his house.

 

[CHenry]

I certainly admit that this guy went way overboard, but that could also be associated with a temporary loss of sanity, which has certainly been used to get other off a murder charge. This guy has been charged with 2nd degree murder. Manslaughter I can see in this case, but this would have never happened if the initial crime had not been perpetrated by the teens. Sorry, but they should not have done what they did. If you go into a movie theater and yell fire and get trampled in the rush of people leaving, you don't get to sue the movie theater. Don't break into houses and you won't get shot by an old dude who is pissed off that you keep breaking into his house.

He already neutralized the threat. The "finishing shot" to the head was murder. This is way more cut and dry that Erslands case and he got life for murder 1.

 

[Jack T.]

I couldn't convict him of murder.

It'd be tough for me to as well. It would be even tougher for me to convict him if he (and Ersland, for that matter), hadn't run his mouth.

 

[Commander Keen]

Is this guy related to any pharmacists in Oklahoma?