Randall Smith’s neighbors react to latest shooting

John Lawson tells 10 on your side he first met his neighbor, Randall Smith, back in the 80’s before he was convicted of killing two hikers. “I thought that he had one of the most brilliant minds of any young guy that I had ever talked to because he was very, he seemed to me very intelligent.“

But,  Lawson admits sometimes back then…“He acted a little strange, but I don’t know that might have been normal for him. He would seem like his mind would be in a different world.“

Lawson says after Smith was released from prison he became a loner. “He would go out. I guess he went out to get groceries and stuff. He never looked away. He never looked off the road or nothing. I’d always try to throw my hand up at him, but he never would respond.“

That wasn’t the case with everyone, according to Angela Lucas. She says Smith befriended her teenage son. “He {my son} said well I’ve been to his house with my friend several times and he’s a really nice man. The fact remains that he could have done something…snapped and hurt the children…that really terrifies me.“

It also scared neighbors when weeks started to pass with no sign of Smith at his home or around town. Police entered him as a missing person last week; a person some neighbors say made them nervous especially knowing he was living right down the road.

“I can’t believe they even let him out of prison,“ says Lucas.

On the other hand, others like Lawson, after all these years, are still shocked he was ever there.

One of Smith’s neighbors also told us, as a child, Smith spent most of his time in the woods. While another tells 10 on your side the only time she saw Smith is when he checked his mail.