Homeowner Convicted of Premeditated Murder For Shooting Burglars (PODCAST)

by Austin Petersen

Homeowner Byron Smith was convicted of premeditated murder and given two life sentences without chance of parole for shooting and killing two thieves who had repeatedly burgled his residence over the course of a summer.

Smith was convicted after a jury listened to an audio recording of the incident that the man had captured which revealed him laying a trap for the burglars and shooting them both after they broke into his basement where he had been hiding. Smith’s rants after the shootings appear to paint him in a bad light due to the manner in which he first shot one burglar, then hid their body in a tarp, and then shot the other, finishing them off with extra shots and stating openly that he did it to make sure they would never come back to hurt him later.

So was his shooting of the burglars justified? And if not, what should have been the sentence? Surely not premeditated murder? All that and more on this episode of the Freedom Report podcast.

Austin Petersen is a homegrown Missourian with a lifelong passion for liberty. He grew up on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri and went on to attend Missouri State University, graduating with a degree in the Fine Arts. After developing a career in media in both New York City and Washington, D.C., he returned to Kansas City, MO, the city he now calls home. In 2016, Petersen appeared on the national stage as a candidate for president of the United States. He took second place in the crowded Libertarian primary behind Governor Gary Johnson and ahead of cyber security maverick John McAfee. During his campaign, Petersen earned many high-profile conservative endorsements, including Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Petersen also brings decades of professional experience in a wide variety of fields, from content production and media to business and political activism. He is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC, a consulting firm specializing in photo and video services. He was also the director of production at FreedomWorks and an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Additionally, Petersen has a national following as a commentator and professional pundit. He is the founder of The Libertarian Republic, a powerful online news source for the public that receives an average of 1 million unique visits monthly and whose podcast, The Freedom Report, receives an average of one million monthly downloads. He is also a frequent contributor on television, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC and on dozens of local radio shows.

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