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Dateline revisited one of Minnesota's most debated home invasion cases: On Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012, Little Falls homeowner Byron David Smith, then 64, shot and killed two teenage intruders, 17-year-old Nicholas Brady and 18-year-old Haile Kifer.
Court records and national reporting provide a clear timeline that answers the question: “What happened inside that home?” Dateline's 12 Minutes on Elm Street puts the events of the case in chronological order. Smith's audio recording captured nearly every detail of the break-in and the shootings.
That recording, along with other evidence, was the backbone of the trial. Below is a timeline that shows how the sequence of events played out and also the way in which the legal system interpreted Smith's actions.
A background of the case
Before the break-in, Smith had reported multiple burglaries at his Little Falls home. According to court and news accounts, he had set up security cameras and had placed weapons in convenient locations, and on Thanksgiving Day, turned on an audio recorder. Brady and Kifer were cousins, and both had been known to the neighborhood for committing burglaries previously.
They happened to break into Smith's house on the 22nd of November. However, the breaking was not the crime; rather, the deadly force that Smith used against the intruders was the issue that played a major role in the legal proceedings and also in Dateline coverage.
Complete timeline of events
Prior to the incident – Summer to Fall 2012
Burglars had attempted to break into Smith's house on several occasions. He took home protection to another level by using several methods, such as security cameras and gun ownership.
Even though the mentioned facts create the picture, they are still not enough to legally justify the following events. He sometimes turned on his audio recorder to capture the sounds happening inside his house.
When the shootings are talked about, such measures taken to protect his house should be discussed as a contributory factor, but they were not in any way an excuse for the shootings.
Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012 – Break-in and shootings
Early Afternoon – Entry
Nicholas Brady was the first to enter. Smith was in the basement with firearms and an active audio recorder. The recording captured footsteps, breaking glass, and the intruders going through the house.
Minutes after entry – Brady shot
Brady headed down into the basement. Smith fired his rifle, striking Brady, who went down, not mortally wounded. The court records also detail that Smith fired a shot to the head of Brady at close range using a handgun. Prosecutors described it as an “execution-style” shot. Brady’s body was laid out on a tarp.
Waiting period
Smith remained in the basement for some length of time until Kifer came. He reloaded his guns. During that time, no emergency call was made.
Kifer enters - Multiple shots fired
Meanwhile, oblivious to Brady's fate, Kifer descended into the basement. Smith shot several times with his rifle.
When the rifle had malfunctioned, he switched to the handgun. Prosecutors indicated that Kifer was shot several times, and one of these shots-the one to the head-was the most severe and one that had been done from close range. She was laid on a separate tarp.
Post-shootings
The bodies remained in the basement overnight. It was Smith's words, his pauses, his actions-all caught on that audio recording. The Dateline "12 Minutes" is the approximate length of an audio recording capturing both shootings and much of the time in between them.
According to the official records, the second gunfire incident occurred roughly ten minutes later than the first one.
November 23, 2012, Reporting on the incident
The next day, Smith called a neighbor, and the neighbor called the police. Subsequently, the officers came and secured the scene, recovering both of the bodies and the audio recording. The recording played a major role as evidence in the trial.
Police arrived and secured the scene; both bodies and the recording were recovered. The recording became key evidence in the trial.
Investigation and trial
2013-2014 – Pre-trial investigation
Autopsy reports proved that Brady had been shot at least a few times; one of the shots landed in the head and was performed at a very close distance and turned out to be fatal. Kifer experienced the same doom; ultimately, he had multiple gunshot wounds, the first of which was a close-range gunshot wound to the head-was immediately lethal.
Playing the recordings, the detectives explained that they could tell the exact moments when the victims were already powerless to resist, and then the shooting started, with the force being so strong that it was definitely not along the lines of self-defense.
The documentation of Smith's actions and timings to the minute was covered by this audio recording.
April 21, 2014 - Trial begins
The prosecution argued that Smith was hiding and using excessive force, hence making the murders premeditated. The defense for the defendant argued that Smith was in fear of death due to the previous burglaries and referred to the castle doctrine of Minnesota.
April 29, 2014 - Verdict
The jury, after deliberations of about three hours, pronounced Smith guilty of murder with premeditation in the first degree on counts two and three. The Judge then sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole.
Smith appeals, raising issues of self-defense and the admission of audio recordings. The conviction was affirmed by the Minnesota appellate courts. In 2022, the United States Supreme Court denied his last appeal. His life sentence was final.
Dateline featured
The Dateline episode 12 Minutes on Elm Street included: Complete audio recording, legal definition of self-defense, the timing of Smith's actions and pauses. The court's decision was that his actions exceeded lawful defense.
Dateline presented the case in chronological order, strictly factually, using the audio recording to show how fast events had escalated and how each moment was interpreted through the legal system.
The Byron Smith case is a perfect example of that thin line between defense of one's home and the limitation of self-defense laws. The episode depicts a home invasion leading to two fatalities and the dependency of the legal outcome on recorded evidence.
In Smith's case, all courts of law, including the US Supreme Court, confirmed the conviction, and thus the shootings were found to be intentional acts beyond the limits of self-defense.
Trending
This Dateline episode goes through the happenings with great accuracy and scrupulosity and even points out the sequence, evidence, and judicial interpretation, so that the audience gets a sure and fair understanding of what took place on Elm Street.
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