The next court date for the man accused of shooting two teenage intruders at his home in Little Falls on Thanksgiving Day has been pushed back to May.
Morrison County District Judge Douglas Anderson on Tuesday rescheduled a Jan. 22 omnibus hearing for May 6 at the request of Steven Meshbesher, a Twin Cities defense attorney who represents Byron David Smith, a retired U.S. State Department employee who faces two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of Nick Brady, 17, and Haile Kifer, 18.
In requesting the delay, Meshbesher noted in a letter to the judge that DNA and toxicology lab work in the case won't be complete until early spring. He also said that the defense must gather and review "a significant volume" of information and evidence that prosecutors plan to introduce in the case.
"There's just a lot of stuff yet we don't have," said Kevin Gregorius, an attorney working with Meshbesher.
Smith, who was released from custody in December after posting bond, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of the teens, who were cousins.
He has told authorities that he fired multiple shots at the teenagers as they broke into his house near the Mississippi River around noon on Thanksgiving Day.
A prosecutor later said in court that an audio recording of the shootings indicated that Smith shot Brady three times as he walked down the stairs to Smith's basement. Smith then dragged Brady's body to a nearby work room.
He shot Kifer about 10 minutes later after she walked down the stairs. When his rifle jammed, he switched to a revolver and shot her several more times, delivering a final shot to her head, a prosecutor said.
