Been replaying in my head, over and over. It was, all, very unbelievable. It happened On Thanksgiving. Two teenagers, missing. I just buried my head into my hands, and i started to cry. Where they were, and what they did would launch a terrifying case. Why did have to happen here . With a deadly end. Nobodys leaving until we figure out what happened. A man at home, alone, and afraid. What would you do, if you felt in danger . They were really attacking his home. You have a right to protect your home, and to protect yourself. He planned. He prepared. And he was determined to kill. The most chilling detail of all. What youll hear on tape. Hello and welcome to dateline. Growing up, Cousins Nick Brady and haile kifer were close. Nick loved to joke, and haile loved to laugh. The teenagers were together that cold, november day, when tragedy struck. The horrible incident was all there for police to hear, on a perfectlyclear recording. So, why was what happened so unclear . A mystery that would divide a community, and spark a national debate. Heres kate snow with 12 minutes on elm street. 12 minutes. Not a long time. But for three people, whose paths collided On Thanksgiving day, 12 minutes was all it took for their lives to explode, in a flash. I refuse to live in fear. 12 minutes, that would haunt their families. I dropped to my knees, and i was like, this cant be happening. Basically, why . Every second of those terrifying minutes would be fiercely debated. Your natural instinct is to save yourself, however you need to do it. A town divided over what happened inside this house, on elm street. Got a lot of weird things happen in trial. Ive never, in my life, had evidence such as this. This might be more than what were, initially, being told. But before all the fear and the finger pointing, it was just another thanksgiving weekend in november, 2012, in the small town of little falls, minnesota. Everybody knows everybody and everything about everybody. 18yearold, rachel brady, was spending the holiday with her 17yearold brother, nick, and their 18yearold cousin, haile kifer. We were always together. We would go camping. We were always in the water. Always doing something. Me and haile were always together. Nick was the funloving one in the group. Kimberly is his mom. He found joy in everything, and he would make sure to find something to make you smile. Hed just sit there and hug me. And be like, oh, rachel, rachel, my big sister. And then, make me laugh every single time. Like all kids, they liked to tease each other. Like, when rachel called nick the nickname he had when he was a little boy. Nickel baby. Nobody else called him that . Just the family . Oh, no, like his really good friends would call him it, after they heard me call him it. He would get so mad at me for saying it in front of his friends. Growing up, nick was into sports and loved the outdoors. So did his cousin haile, who was as bright and active as he was. She was vivacious, bubbly, and funny. She was very athletic in high school. She was in gymnastics and softball and track. The closeknit cousins spent the wednesday before thanksgiving together. Rachel says, there isnt all that much for teens to do in little falls so they would drive around town in the red mitsubishi nick rebuilt, himself. Did you cruise right down the main drag here . Pretty much, everywhere. So, just spending the day, with with no cares. Yeah. They all spent the night together at a friends apartment. On thanksgiving morning, nick and haile left around 11 00 a. M. They said they were going to go to my mom and dads house. The plan was to meet later at grandmas house but nick and haile never showed up. Kimberly and rachel tried calling them. Is it strange for nick not to answer his phone . Absolutely. Even if i would have called over and over again, he would have called or answered and been like, what do you want . Strange for haile to not answer her phone . Extremely. She would have never not answered my phone call. Adding to their worry was the weather. It had started snowing. So im thinking, okay, the weather. Maybe, he got stranded somewhere. And i was hoping that he was just staying overnight in a safe place. Yeah, in a safe place. Are you worried about a car accident . I was very worried. Sure enough, on friday morning, there was frightening news. We heard about a car accident that had a red car. And we thought it was him, right away. And so, we went and looked and it ended up being car pieces for a different car. And so, then, when that wasnt him either, we started to get extremely worried. After that. We drove up and down the back roads, though. We looked. Up and down the highway. Any way i could think of that might lead through town, anywhere. Rachel posted messages on facebook. Has anyone heard from haile or nick . Still, nothing. By friday afternoon, they were out of their minds with worry. I mean, we called and called and called. No answers. No nothing. We kept getting the voicemails. And i was like, nick, this is getting serious. You know, we i started crying, on one of em. And i was like, you better not be making fun of me. This better not be a joke. Yeah. Before the day was over, the family would find out, this was no joke. Something terrible had happened to nick and haile but it wasnt a car crash or an accident. It was something, no one in little falls, could have seen coming. I tried to be a good person. Across town, Police Gather at a crime scene. And concerned neighbors fear the worst. Coming up just worry and panic like somethings wrong. Someone else had, also, met with trouble thatthanksgiving day. The deadly kind. When dateline continues. But with my moderatetosevere eczema, it hasnt been easy. 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Rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. But im protected with arexvy. Arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower Respiratory Disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. Rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. But im protected. Arexvy is proven to be over 82 effective in preventing lower Respiratory Disease from rsv and over 94 effective in those with these health conditions. Arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. Those with weakened Immune Systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. The most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. I chose arexvy. Rsv . Make it arexvy. The friday after thanksgiving, 2012, Kimberly Brady was worried sick that her son nick and her niece, haile, never showed up for thanksgiving dinner. They had been missing for morethan24 hours. By friday afternoon, the family was frantic. So you decided to call the police . We went into the sheriffs department. Right away. And filled out missingpersons reports for both of them. As authorities processed those reports, three other sheriffs deputies were over on elm street, investigating something, so troubling, they later called in a crimescene van. That got the Attention Of John and kathy lange, who Saw The Van Go straight towards the house of their good friend, byron smith, a 64yearold, retired man, living on his own. I was decorating the christmas tree. I saw a big, huge truck go down his road. Called the crimescene unit. And i shouted for john. I think you were in the kitchen. And i said, call byrons cell. Something has happened. What did you worry, kathy . What did you think had happened . I thought he was dead. Kathy and john feared the worst for their friend, who had seemed out of sorts, in recent months. Everything was fine when byron, first, moved back to his hometown of little falls aboutfive years earlier, after a career that took him all over the world with the u. S. State department. He was talking about Living In Moscow and cairo and dakar. And its amazing. A worldly guy. Very much, so. A great conversationalist and and fun to talk with. But recently, byron wasnt himself. His house had been broken into a few times. The thieves taking everything, from money to precious, family heirlooms. The langes say their friend who had mentored boy scouts and let teens jam in his garage become afraid. He was acting real quiet, real scared. And then, that crimescene van showed up outside byrons home, and kathy was sure her friend was in trouble. Just worry and panic. Its like, somethings wrong. She was right. Something was wrong. Burglars had struck, again. This time, byron was home, and he had a gun. He had managed to defend himself, and survived the breakin. If you break into somebodys home, you better not have an expectation youre going to walk out alive, because the law permits them to shoot you. Nickel wetzel was the sheriff. When two intruders broke into his house and crept downstairs, byron shot both of them, dead. Minnesota law is clear on, this thing. You have the right to use deadly force against another person, if you believe your life or the life of another is in immediate jeopardy. As investigators continued to secure the scene at byrons house, the Sheriffs Office was calling another family. Kimberly brady had been frantically trying to find her son nick and her niece haile. Now, investigators knew what had happened to them. They drove out to speak with kimberly, and they brought a chaplain. As soon as i saw them turn the corner, the something i knew he was gone. I didnt know how or why. And then, all of a sudden, i remember the door opened and the chaplain came out. All i said was, no. I dont really remember if i said anything else. Hes like, your son is dead. Nick and haile were both dead. Kimberly fell to her knees. And then, the chaplain told her, it was no accident. Hes like, your son was shot. And i was like and then, i mean, shot . That just wasnt doesnt fit. I just remember feeling, like, i said what do you mean, shot to death . When i could finally get something out. And he said, well, he was shot three times. I was like, shot . What do you mean shot three times . And that that was i couldnt function. I couldnt really hear, after that. Were you there, rachel, during that . I walked in. And then, my dad said that somebody somebody shot nickel baby. And i remember, i just went right outside, and i sat in the snow. I just buried my head into my hands, and i started to cry. And then, he tapped me on the shoulder, and told me, hailes gone, too. Thats your brother and your best friend. Do you remember what was racing through your head, rachel . Basically, why . I guess, we all just couldnt believe it was both, at one time, so suddenly. Even harder to absorb . How and where nick and haile were shot. They were the intruders byron smith killed. It was all very unbelievable. So, what happened in that basement, on elm street . The answer to that would lead to a heated debate. How far is too far, when it comes to defending your home . When do you cross the line, between victim and criminal . Coming up a grainy image captures a clue. Is that nick . You see him, on different cameras, different angles, Walking Around the house. Is that haile . When dateline continues. The story of what happened on elm street spread, quickly, around little falls, minnesota. That two teenagers had broken into byron smiths house. Leaving the terrified homeowner no choice but to shoot them, in selfdefense. His friends and neighbors, john and kathy lange, had no trouble believing it. What was scary, it was very personal to him because they were really attacking his home. But the family of those intruders. They were in shock. I didnt believe it. I thought it was completely not right or untrue. Teenage cousins, nick brady and haile kifer had gone missing the day before, thanksgiving. Now, as she learned the circumstances of her sons death, nicks mother had so many questions. How do you reconcile, in your head, your beautiful boy, who loves the outdoors, and what theyre telling you, that he broke into somebodys house . I just, i couldnt imagine it. It just was so not him. So you just couldnt reconcile . Yeah. I had a lot of trouble. Kimberly had never heard the name byron smith, but rachel had. I knew that my brother had worked for him, in the summer. But i didnt know him at all. Nick had once done yard work at byron smiths house. Now, the sheriff had evidence of what he was doing there again. Byron had set up Surveillance Cameras at his home. Frightened, after a string of breakins. Those cameras proved there was no mistake about the breakin. Just after 12 30, the cameras pick up a man approaching the house. The hooded figure is nick. He looks through several windows, as if checking to see if someones home. He clutches his hood, closely, concealing his face. Jeremy luberts is an investigative sergeant with the Morrison County sheriffs department. You could see that there had been what appeared to be a little bit of casing done on on Nicholas Bradys part. He even heads toward one of the cameras and tries to dismantle it. Then, he walks out of camera range, shatters a window and enters the house. Minutes later, the camera shows another hooded figure. This one, carrying a purse and a cellphone. Its haile. On the video, it shows that the female had come walking through the yard, up toward the house. All on tape, clear as daylight. But why . What were nick and haile up to that day . They both went to my school, at one time. Dylan lange is the son of byrons friends, john and kathy. In little falls. You know, you have your regular, high school crowds. Like, the jocks and the goth kids. Then, you have a group that is misguided. Dylan didnt know haile well, but says, at school, nick was no angel. What did you know about those two teenagers . I knew that nick was aggressive. He would be the kid, who would push up against the locker. Kind of a bully . Right. He was a bully. And as it turned out, a thief. After the shootings, authorities determined that nick had been behind one of those previous burglaries at byrons house. Just a month earlier, he and a friend broke through this door and stole thousands of dollars in cash and pricelessfamily heirlooms. And more disturbingly, two guns. They took things that were really important to him, personally. Yes. And then, when he took the guns, he thought he was going to get shot by his own guns. He was extremely afraid. To Sergeant Luberts, it all looked like a classic case of troublemaking kids crossing a line into dangerous, criminal behavior. You have two teenagers that seem to be running kind of rampant. You can, obviously, see that they had a change in their lives. And in fact, when investigators located nicks car parked on a secluded road near byron smiths home. They found items stolen from another house. Maybe, it was the motivation of money and having material items. Maybe, it was the motivation of having friends. And wanting to please friends. The evidence appeared to, all, be there. Clearly, captured on that surveillance video. Nick and haile had broken in, and byron smith seemed to have every reason to be afraid. The impression that he kind of left on me was that he was living in fear. He was not sleeping. It was, obviously, bothering him, physically and and emotionally. At first, even nicks mom, while she didnt want to believe much of what she was learning about her son, tried to imagine herself, in byrons shoes. I dont believe that Breaking And Entering is right. And i dont wouldnt have expected it out of my son. It looked like a tragedy, all around. Two intruders and a fearful homeowner, with no choice but to shoot them. We know you have a right to protect your home, and to protect yourself. But a quick survey of the scene told Sheriff Wetzel that the teenagers were unarmed. As with any shooting, it would require more investigation. It would be ordinary, with two people dead in a home, that nobodys leaving until we figure out what happened. Beginning with one question. Smiths house, friday afternoon, only to learn that the breakin and shootings, happened thursday, On Thanksgiving day. I asked him. I said, why didnt you call Law Enforcement . And he tells me, i didnt want to bother you guys On Thanksgiving day. That struck the sheriff as extremely odd. Nobody worries about wrecking our thanksgiving. They dont worry about wrecking our day. So, the intruders had been dead, for 24 hours, when byron called a neighbor for help. And asked him to call the Sheriffs Office. When you found out that byron smith had waited 24 hours. My mind was then, why . If he was so scared, wouldnt you be on the phone . I mean, because those kids had families, too, that were waiting. And then, for him to say he didnt want to bother anybody On Thanksgiving. Really . It became clearer and clearer and clearer that there were some things that were strange about this case. Investigators were about to learn a lot more about that shooting in the house on elm street. And what happened next would tear this town apart. Coming up i was no longer willing to live in fear. Byron smiths story. Was it all adding up . When dateline continues. Teeth sensitivity is so common. 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