want to have a picture that would not be as nice because it would be permanently used. I tried to explain that there was no time for that. This was already Wednesday, and the paper would get printed on Friday. I even asked if he would do me this favor and just let me scan his driver’s license picture, but no deal.
I met Steve Meshbesher for the first time on February 7, 2013. He wanted to spend the day in Little Falls to see how our family lived, where Byron was staying for now, and reenact the shootings with Byron. By this time, Byron had been living in our home since December 18. We all went over to Byron’s home as Steve wanted to inspect the window that was broken and go over the details of that Thanksgiving Day. Steve seemed very polished and confident, as an experienced lawyer would be. He was standing outside Byron’s home when we drove up. He looked at me and then looked at John, whom he had met before, and asked if I was really his wife. “How long have you been with him?” he asked me in a surprising tone. My husband and I are polar opposites. John is very outspoken and bold. He says whatever is on his mind, with no filter, and I try to balance all that with calm and quiet. As Steve talked with Byron, he came face-to-face in Byron’s personal space, telling him that the prosecutor would be hard on him, would anger him, and would prove that he shot the kids out of anger instead of fear. He pulled on Byron’s zippered-down overcoat as if to anger him right there. He was in Byron’s face while he was explaining how hard it would be to prove him innocent of the charges. He explained to Byron that he should be thankful to have such good friends and then turned to John and then pointed at me and told Byron to “listen to her.” I am not quite sure what he actually even meant by that, but I was quite surprised by such firmness with his client. After they headed down the basement to reenact the crime scene, I left. I didn’t care to go downstairs, and I got the impression that Byron was uncomfortable with us hearing the audio for the first time. Byron had been so frightened of being killed by his own guns he made an audio so someone would find it in case he was killed by burglars. He wanted to ensure there was some evidence in case that occurred. Security was his career, thus the recording. Unfortunately, this recording became the focal point of his trial. People’s emotional response was immediate. Any reenactment of death is ugly. The recording revealed a desperate man in anguish, who, alone, was forced to deal with a situation that would be incomprehensible to anyone.
For several days, I had been contemplating about telling my boss that Byron Smith was living in our home. I was always on alert, afraid someone would find out. And even worse, my fear was if students in the high school knew he was living in our home, Dilan’s school life would be negatively impacted. Would they bully him or make it impossible for him to attend school? The teachers in the high school, Dilan stated, for the most part, seemed very sympathetic toward the teens even though they were killed committing a crime. Dilan had come home one day and was feeling upset because they were selling bracelets in memory of Nick and Haile. He was asked to buy one and refused. I told him we would not be spending any money on bracelets and he was right to refuse such a purchase.
One day I received a call from a friend of mine later that morning. She was upset with me because I had told the investigator something she had mentioned while we had lunch one day. It was about Nick Brady and what a bully he was on the bus. He basically controlled the bus atmosphere by instilling threats and fear on the other riders. When I mentioned this to Ross, the investigator working with Meshbesher, he thought it important information. When he called my friend, she was livid about being called about it. She was so upset that she stated we couldn’t be friends anymore. Furthermore, she stated that Byron was going to jail for a long time. “There are commandments: Thou shalt not kill.” She was telling me how she and a friend sat and cried about being asked some questions by an investigator. I could feel I was losing a friend over my support of another. I hung up with her and had a small meltdown myself. I closed my office door, and the tears started streaming for several minutes. All the stress from this situation, from the media, and from supporting our neighbor all came to a head. If God could have placed me on a different part of the earth, I wanted to go now. I did not want to cause my friend all this distress, but I also would not be judged by helping someone in their darkest hour. Her ultimatum that I could no longer be her friend if I supported Byron Smith ended the friendship. These situations are so difficult because everyone has such strong opinions and judgments are formed only by what media has printed. John was in the local Walmart and a friend approached him in the store and a near-physical encounter ensued because of his support for Byron. There is so much more to the story, and not all residents were understanding nor wanted to. Friendships were lost and might never be repaired.
Over the next weekend, we had a visitor to our home unexpectedly. It was John’s longtime friend, Irv. We call him Elvis because he loved Elvis Presley and imitated him by quoting and breaking out in an Elvis song every chance he got. When he came to the door, Byron quickly ran to his bedroom. At this point, he didn’t want anyone to know where he was or to be seen here. As soon as Irv stepped in the door, he says, “Quick, let me in before I get shot.” And then he started laughing. I just smiled a little knowing that Byron could very well hear what he said as his bedroom was one wall away. Irv went on to talk a little about the incident, and then we quickly changed the subject to other things. I quickly needed to get him out of the house, so I suggested lunch at a nearby restaurant and I would treat. He took the offer, and we averted any further conversations to the restaurant. The same scenario happened the next weekend. Some other friends dropped by on a moment’s notice, just to visit. Byron quickly went to his bedroom and shut the door. To avoid uncomfortable conversations, we did the same and went to a local restaurant to spend time with our friends and give Byron some comfort level.
On February 9, 2013, the article came out in the Morrison County Record identifying Cody Kasper and Nick Brady as two of the teens who burglarized Byron several times. The public would finally know that these kids were attacking him and his property. This should affect a change in the community’s attitude, especially those feeling sorry for burglars. The county prosecutor was finally bringing charges on Nick’s friend Cody Kasper. Cody had been questioned by the police a few days after the shootings. The initial evidence came from his cell phone, and then he started confessing to some things. Cody claimed to never have been in the house but acted as the lookout. He could now blame his friend, who was dead and couldn’t speak for himself. According to Cody, Nick bought him an ATV with all the cash they took from Byron, along with clothes and shoes. Colt had seen them in the mall in St. Cloud with a fistful of cash. The news article also had quotes from Meshbesher saying, “If you can’t be safe in your own home, where can you be safe?” Public safety was a responsibility of the sheriff. Sheriff Wetzel had retained an attorney to get a raise from the county commissioners the previous year. He believed his salary wasn’t in line with other sheriffs in Minnesota, so he sued Morrison County for a raise. Also, Mr. Kosovich, one of the county attorneys, misinformed the Record about the October break-in being solved. The sheriff’s department didn’t solve anything. Byron Smith was left to protect and defend himself, and that’s how the burglaries were solved. Byron Smith received no help from the sheriff’s department under Wetzel’s leadership. As noted earlier, Byron had been thawing out a turkey for Thanksgiving. When he was taken into custody, the turkey was left thawing in his shop. A couple of days later when a neighbor visited Byron in jail, he told him to get the turkey and take it down to John and Kathy’s. When the neighbor went to retrieve the turkey exactly where Byron had left it, the turkey was not there. The pail with slightly pinkish water was there, but not the turkey. The only people who had been in Byron’s house were members of law enforcement. To this day, the mystery of who took the turkey is still not solved, and when the BCA was asked about it, Chad Museus claimed to know nothing about it. Again, where did the turkey go? They were the only ones with access to the property. What else was taken and not reported? Byron had stated that he was questioned by the deputy about something around Nick’s waist and something in the girl’s boot. Did they take something else to insure Byron’s conviction? Who would ever know what was taken or who took it? The sheriff had another search warrant about six days after they had finished with the crime scene. Bruce, Byron’s brother, had left the property, and they brought the warrant over to one of the neighbors. They assumed the neighbor had the key to Byron’s home now as they knew Bruce had left (which had only been a few hours ago). The neighbor told them that he didn’t
