Little Falls Homeowner Fights Victims Restitution

LITTLE FALLS (AP) - A Little Falls man convicted of murdering two unarmed teenagers who broke into his home is contesting the restitution prosecutors are asking he pay for the deaths.

Sixty-six-year-old Byron Smith took the stand Tuesday to testify about what had been stolen in a series of burglaries at his Little Falls home before the Thanksgiving Day 2012 shootings.

Smith cried as he described his family building the house that was burglarized.

A Morrison County jury found Smith guilty in April of killing 17-year-old Nick Brady and his 18-year-old cousin, Haile Kifer.

Smith is arguing that because Brady stole items from his house in previous burglaries, he shouldn't have to pay restitution to Brady's family. He's also contesting the $21,859 he was ordered to pay Kifer's family.