A guy in Indiana was found guilty of killing three people while showing them how to make a Glock into a machine gun. He was only 16 years old at the time.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press statement that Caden Smith, who is now 19 years old, was found guilty on Friday of several charges, including murder, robbery, dangerous possession of a machine gun, and possession of methamphetamine. Abdulla Mubarak, 17, Joseph Thomas, 18, and Michael James, 22, were all killed by him.
An officer from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department found the three men shot to death in a road full of tall grass near the 4400 block of S. Meridian Street on October 12, 2021. At the spot, investigators found a number of empty shell casings.
The men were lured to the field over two nights by Smith’s texts, where he promised to show them how a Glock switch worked. When you flip the switch, the rifle gun turns into a machine gun.
Prosecutors say Smith killed all three men so he could rob them. Smith was named as a suspect by detectives, and the murder weapon was found at his house.
“Abdullah, Joseph, and Michael’s families will never be able to see them grow up and live their lives,” said Ryan Mears, the prosecutor for Marion County.
“This verdict makes it more likely that Smith will spend the rest of his life in prison for the crimes he committed.”
As stated by the Indianapolis Star, there were rumors about a possible serial killer after the killings happened two days apart in a remote area. Of course, the police quickly disproved the story and arrested Smith.
A guilty decision wasn’t always certain. According to Indianapolis NBC station WTHR, a judge threw out some important evidence in 2022 because he thought detectives had broken Smith’s Fourth Amendment rights during a search warrant.
The GPS ankle monitor let Smith out of jail, but on his 18th birthday, police found Snapchat photos of him with a gun and drugs, which put him back in jail, according to the TV station.
His hearing started on August 19 and went on for five days. He stayed in jail until then.
Mears said, “It was a long and hard road for these families, but justice has been done for Abdullah, Joseph, Michael, and their families thanks to the unwavering dedication of the investigators, deputy prosecutors, and many other agencies.”