GatewayRedbirds.com

The two jurors, speaking just hours after their verdicts were delivered, said the picture of Smith that emerged from days of often chilling testimony was of a man who methodically planned for a violent confrontation rather than a homeowner surprised by intruders.

Several other jurors declined to comment in detail, saying only that it was a tough case to hear but not a tough one to decide.

Smith’s planning before the shootings — from moving his truck off his property to a neighbor’s home, to surveillance devices set up inside and outside of the home, to laying a tarp at the foot of his stairs — pointed toward him preparing for what happened, Strandberg said.

“It seemed like he had done many things to either lure them into the house or into the basement itself,” Strandberg said. “Moving the truck was the very first big sign that he had planned something. And then moving the bodies and having the tarp handy had a lot to do with it.”

Beyond that, Strandberg said, “it seemed like he sat there and waited for it.”

“It appeared to be that it was, for lack of a better term, his kill zone, where he wanted them to come in and enter, so he could have ample opportunity to kill them,” Strandberg added.

Some of the jurors believed that Smith waited a full day before reporting the shootings because he wanted to see whether other burglars would show up — even unscrewing bulbs from fixtures as night fell so that any new intruders wouldn’t be able to see in his basement.

Gashouse wrote:In no way am I defending the kids' actions. If he was just doing his thing and then someone broke into his house, surprised him, and he shot and killed them in an attempt to defend himself...I'd agree with you. In this case, he really seemed to bait the kids and them ambushed them. He had surveillance set up around his house, so he knew when they were starting to break in. At that point, you call the cops and defend yourself if necessary. Instead had everything set up so he could kill. He went way past the line of self defense. He had intent to kill and helped make it happen by baiting them.

Gashouse wrote:Regardless, I think the guy's own audio recording of everything damned him. If he'd shot the kids, called the cops/ambulance, and the kids still die of their wounds, I think he's a free man. Instead he executed them and then waited a day to call the cops.

longhornbaseball wrote:If you burglarize someone's home, I'm not going to feel sorry for you when he kills you. The guy sounds like a nutter butter, but he shouldn't be convicted of murder for killing asshats who broke into his house. Unbelievable.