Shepherd accused of brutal murder of Smith family sentenced to life in prison

Malkhaz Kobauri, accused of brutally murdering the Smith family in eastern Georgia in the summer of last year, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

He and his family members reacted with protest to the prison term, calling it ‘unfair’.

The jury delivered a guilty verdict yesterday, confirming that 19-year-old shepherd first killed Mr. Ryan Smith, then the family’s four-year-old son Caleb. Ryan Smith’s wife, Lora, was found to have been raped and then killed.

The sentence was announced earlier today.

Kobauri does not admit to the crime, and instead claims ‘several foreigners’ killed the Smith family.

His mother Mariam Martiashvili told the media that the case was influenced by the US and that his son “will not find justice” under the current state leadership.

The US Consul to Georgia Janet Reber stated that the verdict and the sentence are fair and that the family of the Smith demanded such a verdict.

Evidence left no room for a doubt,” She said.

The jury unanimously said that Kobauri committed the crime. 

What is known regarding the case?

• The Smith family went missing in early July 2018 and the family’s friends appealed to the police for help.
• The bodies of Ryan and Lora Smith were found on 7 July in the Khada Gorge of  Dusheti region, in eastern Georgia.
• Initially police said that Ryan and Lora Smith had no signs of violence on their bodies. However, later the Interior Ministry stated that Ryan Smith had been shot, and as he was found in a river in very poor condition the shots were invisible at first glance.
• Ryan Smith was shot twice, while Lora Smith’s body was found next to a waterfall.
• Kobauri was detained on 11 July and he himself showed the site to law enforcers where  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. A bit later he started speaking about “several foreigners.”
• The case prosecutor initially stated that the dispute between Kobauri and Ryan Smith emerged because of a rifle the shepherd carried with him. The prosecutor claimed that Ryan Smith told the shepherd to be cautious with the weapon, especially in the presence of the child.
• At first the Prosecutor’s Office stated that Lora Smith likely fell off a cliff as she tried to escape.
• However, on November 9, 2018, Kobauri was charged with the rape and murder of Lora Smith. Now sexual motives have been named by the prosecution.
• Kobauri has been found psychologically fit.

Ryan and Lora Smith had dual Georgia-American citizenship and had been living in Georgia’s eastern Marneuli region for more than 10 years, where they had a business producing Azerbaijani carpets.