Minnesota man who hid in basement, killed teens in house convicted of murder

A jury convicted a Minnesota man of premeditated murder on Tuesday in a case where he waited for two teens to break into his house and then shot them several times.

The jury deliberated for all of three hours on the case before finding 65-year-old Bryon Smith guilty of two counts of first-degree and second-degree murder in the deaths of Nick Brady and Haile Kifer, reports The Associated Press.

Smith claimed he was only defending himself when he shot the two teens in 2012 and his lawyer argued he was scared due to past burglaries. Prosecutors said that Smith was actually hiding in wait to kill the teens. He moved his truck so it appeared like the house was empty and hid in the basement with the intention of shooting and killing them.

According to Reuter, Smith was well-prepared and when 17-year-old Brady walked down the stairs into the basement, he was shot three times and placed on a tarp. Kifer, 18, came down the basement a few minutes later and Smith shot her six times.

Prosecutor Pete Orput said, "Every time the defendant pulled the trigger he had the opportunity to consider."

An audio record Smith made of the shooting was used as evidence at the trial. The recording caught Smith saying, "you're dead," after he killed Brady. Then, after shooting Kifer several times, Smith said "you're dying," before he fired one more round.