Smith family murder in Georgia: Suspect faces additional charge
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The Georgian Chief Prosecutor’s Office has announced that 19-year-old Shepard Malkhaz Kobauri, who has been accused of murder of Ryan and Caleb Smith in mountainous Georgia in July, has also been charged for the rape and murder of Lora Smith.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that the charge has been aggravated after the results of an autopsy, conducted on the body of Lora Smith, became known.
Kobauri’s lawyer claims that the new charge has been made in a situation when the investigation “has no new evidence.”
The lawyer says that Kobauri is innocent and he would not have raped Lora Smith as the suspect is virgin.
The Smith family went missing in early July and the family friends addressed police for help.
The bodies of Ryan and Lora Smith were found on July 7 in the Khada Gorge of Dusheti region, in eastern Georgia.
Kobauri was detained on July 11 and he himself showed the site to law enforcers where a four-year-old Caleb’s body was buried.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that initially Kobauri admitted to the crime, but later he said that “two foreigners” killed the Smiths.
The case prosecutor says that the dispute between Kobauri and Ryan Smith emerged because of a riffle the shepherd carried with him.
The prosecutor says that Ryan Smith told the shepherd to be cautious with the weapon, especially at the presence of a kid.
Ryan Smith was shot two times, while Lora Smith’s body was found next to a waterfall. The prosecutor says she allegedly ran and fell down from a cliff.
Ryan and Lora Smith had dual Georgia and American citizenship and had been living in Georgia’s eastern Marneuli region for more than 10 years, where they had a business producing Azerbaijani rugs.
If Kobauri is found guilty, he will be sent to prison for life.
Lawyer Aleksandre Kobaidze, who represents the accused, 19-year-old Malkhaz Kobauri, says that his client is mentally fit.
Independent lawyer David Girgvliani, who had previously defended the interests of 19-year-old Malkhaz Kobauri, the accused in the murder of Ryan and Lora Smith and their 4-year-old son in Khada Gorge of Georgia early this month, says that he is no longer the man’s lawyer.
A Mtskheta court in eastern Georgia has sent 19-year-old Georgian shepherd Malkhaz Kobauri to pre-trial detention today on charges of the premeditated murder of American couple Ryan and Lora Smith and their four-year-old son on July 4 in the Khada Gorge of Dusheti region of Georgia.
The Interior Ministry of Georgia has confirmed the death of American couple Ryan and Lora Smith and their 4-year-old son Caleb in the Khada Gorge, Dusheti region of Georgia.
Gori District Court in eastern Georgia has began a trial regarding the high profile murder case of the Smith family in Georgia in the summer of last year. A verdict for the 19-year old shepherded Malkhaz Kobauri will be delivered by the jury, as the latter is accused of the murder of Ryan Smith, four-year-old Caleb Smith and the rape and murder of Lora Smith.
A Gori district court jury has found Malkhaz Kobauri, accused of brutally murdering the Smith family in eastern Georgia in the summer of last year, guilty.
Georgian police officers have detained one individual identified only as G.M. for the murder of Indian citizen M.M., 33, in the Isani district in Tbilisi.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has launched an investigation into the death of Australian citizen Shanae Brooke Edwards as intentional homicide.