Shepherd Malkhaz Kobauri, convicted of killing 3 members of the Smith family, sent a letter to the media from prison

Malkhaz Kobauri, convicted of killing 3 members of the Smith family in Khada Gorge, sends a letter to IPN from the penitentiary.

After a three-year stint in prison, a shepherd sentenced to indefinite imprisonment claims he did not commit the murder. According to Kobauri, he no longer wants to meet the mother of the murdered Ryan Smith, because he does not dare, but he is ready to talk with Ryan Smith’s brother.

As Kobauri explains, his crime lies only in the fact that he did not provide law enforcement officers with the information known to him.

“I am not guilty, and no one and nothing can force me to change this position for the rest of my life. My only crime is that I didn’t tell the police what I knew about Ryan Smith’s murder. I was just afraid that everyone would blame me… In the end, that’s what happened,” Kobauri says.

He also writes about a letter he received from Ryan Smith’s mother, Lynn Smith, in which the victim’s mother urged Kobauri to “pray a lot.” Upon receiving the letter, the convict expressed a desire to meet Ryan Smith’s mother, but now says that he will not be able to meet her.

“I can’t express anything but gratitude and respect to this family. The people who lost their family members provided false and disgusting information about me, but despite all this, they did not get angry and found the strength to forgive me everything. Although I am innocent, I understand that it is very difficult for me to prove it to them. Words cannot describe what this means to me,” Kobauri says.

For reference, in 2018, a murder occurred in the Khada Gorge (Mtskheta-Mtinati region in Georgia). In the case of the murder of Ryan and Laura Smith, as well as their 4-year-old son, 19-year-old shepherd Malkhaz Kobauri was detained. The Gori District Court sentenced him to life imprisonment. Kobauri does not admit his guilt.