Verdict on Smith Family Murder Case Will be Delivered by Jury
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, November 26
The criminal case of Malkhaz Kobauri, 19-year-old Shepherd who stands accused of killing the Smiths’ family in the Khada Gorge of mountainous Georgia, will go to jury trial.
The Judge of Mtskheta District Court in eastern Georgia announced the decision on Friday.
It was Kobauri’s demand for the case to be discussed by the jury.
Kobauri does not admit to the murder of Ryan, Lora and their four-year-old son Caleb in July this year and says that he can recognize real killers.
He accuses the police of pressuring him to write a false testimony.
In early July police stated that Kobauri admitted to the crime and showed them the site where the child’s body was hidden.
However, as the body announced, later the suspect changed his testimony and said that “two foreigners” killed the family.
After about a week from changing the testimony, Kobauri mentioned several and not two foreigners in his testimony.
Initially, he was charged with the murder of Ryan and Caleb Smiths. This month he was also charged with rape and murder of Lora Smith.
Kobauri’s lawyer says that the Prosecutor’s Office did not have any evidence to aggravate the charge, especially in the situation where the suspect “is a virgin.”
Mtskheta court in eastern Georgia sent Kobauri to pre-trial detention on July 11 for the murder of the Smith Family on July 4.
The Prosecutor’s Office initially stated that the verbal dispute between Kobauri and Ryan Smith led to the murder, as Smith gave a remark to Kobauri to be cautious with the rifle in the child's presence.
Now the Prosecutor’s Office says that the motive of the crime was Kobauri’s sexual attraction to Lora Smith.
The Smiths had dual Georgian and US citizenship and lived in the Marneuli region of eastern Georgia for more than 10 years, having a business of Azerbaijani rugs [as Marneuli is mainly resided by ethnic Azeri population].
In early July they went to Khada Gorge of eastern Georgia for camping. The Smiths’ friends called the police as they couldn't contact them.
