Man, did you listen to the same recording I did? That was some cold-blooded ****. Continuing to shoot someone that is clearly no longer a threat and pleading?
If someone is a threat, you shoot them and then they die, so be it. But to shoot someone pleading with you that clearly isn't one while telling them they are dying, no sir.
^ THIS.
In researching the event, it seems that the audio lines up with the facts I understand as follows:
-Two teens broke into his home
-They were nearly instantly incapacitated by being shot by Mr. Smith
-Then, he goes on to stop, reload, inspect his handiwork
-Mr. Smith then proceeds to execute two individuals who are already no longer a threat or unknown quantity
-He then spends the next few minutes in his home rambling/justifying his actions (presumably because he knows he is recording it)
I can't say that his language in the audio does him any favors, as he goes on to call the intruders "vermin" and the like, but insulting burglars isn't the issue. Deciding to execute someone who was breaking/broke the law, but is no longer a threat to you is unethical in my eyes (and it would seem, in the eyes of some juries). The event is over in the first ~40 seconds of the audio, then he spends the next few minutes seemingly justifying his actions, most likely because he knew he was recording the event, and to try and make it okay to do what he did.
In a legal and not ethical view, I think this audio definitely hurt him more than helping him, and I would wonder what his legal council thought about it when they heard it originally.
It's my opinion that this guy was one of the people in this world who was looking for a reason to kill someone and just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Do I know this guy's life story? No. Do I know every fact surrounding the event that could've led to his actions? No. But from what I have in front of me and the reports I have read from his conviction on guilty verdicts of both first and second degree murder... He was not protecting himself. This man started within the law in stopping a threat, then he went well outside the law when he started performing executions.
Gun ownership and use is a responsibility. If you don't think you'll be able to control yourself when a situation arises wherein you may have to decide when enough force has already been used... I'd sell your guns. Or you may end up like this guy.
