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Man charged with shooting unarmed teens who broke into his home declines to testify

Minnesota man recorded himself as he shot unarmed teens who broke into his home.

By Frances Burns

LITTLE FALLS, Minn., April 28 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man charged with the first-degree murder of two teenagers who broke into his house declined to give jurors his version of the shootings Monday.

Byron Smith's lawyer rested after he waived his right to testify. Closing arguments were expected to start Tuesday.

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Both sides acknowledge that Haile Kifer, 18, and her cousin, Nick Brady, 17, broke into Smith's house on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. Both also acknowledge that Smith shot them.

But prosecutors say Smith is guilty of murder because he continued to fire while the unarmed teenagers lay wounded and helpless. The defense says he was exercising his right to protect his home and believed the teens were armed.

The shootings were not reported to police until the next day when Smith asked a neighbor for help finding a lawyer. But jurors got to hear what happened because Smith, a retired security expert with the U.S. State Department, had a recording system and security cameras set up in the house.

Brady was shot first as he descended the stairs into Smith's basement, where Smith was sitting in a chair. The audio equipment captured the sounds of gunshots, Brady's groans and then Smith saying "You're dead" after firing a last shot.

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Smith was recorded saying "Sorry about that" as he fired at Kifer about 10 minutes later.

In a recorded interview with police, Smith said soon after the shootings that he had been hit by burglars several times, losing thousands of dollars and two guns.

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