Investigation into killing of Cold Spring cop Tom Decker is only such case since 1970 not solved within a few days. bit.ly/WvCCev
— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) December 20, 2012
Check out this history of investigations into the shootings of MN law enforcement officers since 1970. See the timeline bit.ly/VaIuTp
— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) December 20, 2012
“The man accused of killing two teenagers who broke into his Little Falls-area house on Thanksgiving Day posted bail Tuesday and was released from the Morrison County Jail. (more…)
“Byron David Smith taunted the teen as she lay dying, shooting her again and again, according to a prosecutor who said an audio recording shows Smith went beyond self-defense in the Thanksgiving Day shootings of two cousins trying to burglarize his home.
“‘The state will show that this was an ambush, and a murder,’ prosecutor Todd Kosovich said in a court hearing Monday, recounting the chilling details the recorder captured,” via Star Tribune.
“The teenaged cousins were buried two weeks ago. The homeowner who shot them after they broke into his house has sat in the county jail ever since he spelled out the chilling details to local police.
“But more than three weeks after Byron David Smith confessed to killing Nick Brady, 17, and Haile Kifer, 18, in the basement of his Little Falls home on Thanksgiving Day, the cold and gruesome nature of the crime continues to haunt and divide,” via Star Tribune.
“The part-time police officer on a call with Cold Spring officer Thomas Decker when he was killed may have ‘froze’ instead of going after the killer and hasn’t been able to recount important details of the shooting, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.
“The source said Thursday that the team of investigators trying to find the killer is ‘completely befuddled’ over the second officer’s apparent inability to give a detailed description of Decker’s killer or events surrounding the crime.
“‘They are looking at the other cop’s actions and whether there was a failure to act,’ the source said, via Star Tribune.
“A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition today after police say she was shot by her grandfather late Monday night.
“According to Rochester police, officers responded at 10:55 p.m. to a home in the 2400 block of East River Road Northeast, where they were met by a 61-year-old man and his wife.
“The man said the couple had been asleep when they heard a noise outside, the report says. The man grabbed his 9 mm handgun and told his wife to call the police as he went to investigate, according to Rochester Police Capt. Brian Winters.
“The homeowner saw a figure at the back door and fired at least two shots, one of which struck the 16-year-old girl in the upper torso, Winters said. Preliminary reports from medical staff indicate she’ll survive her injuries, he said,” via Post Bulletin.
“The man accused of shooting two teenagers who broke into his Little Falls-area home on Thanksgiving Day had a surveillance system at his home that recorded video of the teens as they broke into his home.
“Byron David Smith, 64, also had a digital audio recorder running when he shot the teens, and it recorded audio of the shooting,” via St. Cloud Times.
“Hours before Tom Decker’s family and community gathered at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Cold Spring, Minn., for the slain police officer’s visitation, the man arrested on suspicion of killing him walked out of jail,” via Pioneer Press.
Police in downtown Cold Spring Fri following a shooting that killed Cold Spring Police Officer Tom Decker. @mntoday twitter.com/conradjwilson/…
— Conrad Wilson (@conradjwilson) November 30, 2012
NEW DETAILS: Police officer killing in Cold Spring described as an ambush.mprne.ws/fIkx3
— MPR News (@MPRnews) November 30, 2012
We’ve posted raw video of the news conference on the fatal shooting of Cold Spring Officer Thomas Decker kstp.mn/665n8
— KSTP (@KSTP) November 30, 2012
Latest on the #coldspring officer shooting with updated photos. on.sctimes.com/Uwkw9o
— St. Cloud Times (@sctimes) November 30, 2012
“Byron David Smith was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder in the Thanksgiving Day shooting deaths of teens Haile Kifer, 18, and Nicholas Brady Schaeffel, 17,” reports the Brainerd Dispatch.
Morrison Co. Sheriff Wetzel: Byron Smith said he didn’t call law officers about two deaths because he didn’t want to bother them on holiday.
— Mike O’Rourke (@MikeORourkenews) November 26, 2012
Four people are in custody as Rochester police officers investigate what appears to be a counterfeit money operation uncovered this weekend in a Rochester neighborhood, via Rochester Post Bulletin.
“A Pine County sheriff’s deputy faces six felony counts for allegedly stealing narcotics while on duty, according to court documents,” via CBS Minnesota.
“Authorities say a male student was grabbed from behind at knife point in a bathroom at the Minnesota State University, Mankato library but was able to escape. A student is in custody,” via Associated Press.
Police say a man in St. Louis Park pulled a gun on boys he believed took candy from his child, via CBS Minnesota.
