Teddy Kyle Smith Was a Successful Actor. Then, He Shot Two People and Claimed Mystical Creatures Made Him Do It By Emily Blackwood

Obsession, greed, desperation — most true crime documentaries point to common motives like these to explain human brutality. But Hulu’s investigation into the 2012 shooting of two hunters at the hands of a rising star offered a different rationale: an encounter with the supernatural. 

Released in September 2025, Blood & Myth follows the Iñupiaq man and respected actor Teddy Kyle Smith, who became a fugitive following a string of violent crimes in the remote town of Kiana, Alaska. 

After spending nearly two weeks on the run from police in the Alaskan wilderness, Smith surrendered without incident for attempting to murder two hunters he encountered in a cabin. He told detectives that sinister “little people” from Iñupiaq folklore, known as Iñukuns, made him do it.

“His story was basically that he was … being influenced by forces beyond his control,” District Attorney John Earthman told the Anchorage Daily News in December 2014. “He discussed voices and different things that he saw in his travels out there. He didn’t assert that he was rational, but he did provide an explanation.”

Smith was convicted of two counts of first-degree attempted murder, among other charges, and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, per HuffPost. 

So, what happened to Teddy Kyle Smith? Here’s everything to know about the former actor and how he ended up in prison for attempted murder. 

Who is Teddy Kyle Smith?

Smith is a former Marine and Iñupiaq man who grew up in a small, remote town in northern Alaska, per HuffPost. In 2011, he starred in the drama thriller On the Ice, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and earned him respect within his tribe for its authentic representation of their culture. 

His only other film credit was for a small role in Wildlike, another drama set in Alaska that was released in 2014. 

Although Smith was a beloved community member by many, Blood & Myth executive producer James Dommek Jr. stated in the documentary that many people claimed the actor struggled to reconcile his modern success with the traditions of his tribe.

Though he volunteered with elders and taught Iñupiaq skills to children, he was also reportedly a heavy drinker who displayed erratic behavior. 

Smith had multiple run-ins with the law prior to the 2012 incident. The Anchorage Daily News reported that he pleaded no-contest to assault charges in 2000, 2003 and 2005 and had a restraining order filed against him in 2010.

What happened to Teddy Kyle Smith?

In September 2012, Alaska State Troopers contacted Smith regarding an investigation into the suspicious death of his mother, Dolly Smith.

The 74-year-old woman was found dead in her Kiana home on Sept. 7, and the unusual circumstances of how she was reported and where her body was discovered led troopers to deem her death suspicious, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Troopers said that Smith vanished after his mother’s death. 

“It’s like a void,” trooper Capt. Barry Wilson told the Anchorage Daily News at the time. “There is just no information about where he is. Nobody has seen him. No one’s had contact with him. As far as we know, he’s not called anybody or talked to anybody.”

What did Teddy Kyle Smith do?

Troopers later revealed that the same day his mother was reported dead, Smith fired a gun into a crowd outside her home. The Anchorage Daily News reported that at least four people ran for cover, and one man told troopers that he heard a bullet “whiz by him.” 

Though Smith was charged with four counts of assault for scaring and endangering the villagers, troopers did not say he was involved in his mother’s death. Her body was found around the time he went missing.

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Twelve days after Smith fled, authorities received a call that two men had been shot while on a hunting trip near Kiana. Paul and Charles Buckel told troopers that they ran into Smith in a hunting cabin and that he shot them during an altercation. Afterward, he stole their inflatable boat and hunting equipment and began floating down the Squirrel River. 

Authorities staged a blockade for Smith on the river, and he eventually surrendered without incident.

In addition to the Sept. 7 assault, the former actor was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree robbery, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree attempted murder. Troopers said in November 2014 that there was no foul play in the death of his mother and ruled the cause as “undetermined,” per HuffPost.

In Blood & Myth, Smith doubled down on his claim that he did not kill his mother and he had no part in her death.

Why did Teddy Kyle Smith shoot the hunters?

Dommek Jr., who wrote and narrated the 2019 Audible original Midnight Son that inspired Blood & Myth, told HuffPost he first learned of Smith’s motive from tapes of his first police interrogation.

In the recordings, the former actor claimed that he had encountered Iñukuns — and that they guided his violent streak.

Iñukuns are mythical “little people” in Iñupiaq culture, often spoken of in warnings but considered taboo to discuss. Folklore portrays them as menacing figures lurking in the darkness who can possess those who wander too far from home.

A decade later, Smith has stuck to his claims, saying in Blood & Myth that the Iñukuns told him to “go back to the old way,” telling him he no longer lived in respect of his elders and his people’s traditions and he had to make a decision to go back to that.

“It was just one of those things, like, is this really happening? It was almost like if time stopped,” Smith claimed of his alleged encounter. “Everything that I’ve ever heard about since a child, to stay away from, to disavow, to not speak about it, finally comes into my sight of view.”

He continued, “And at that point, I thought they were saying something to me. I could hear the words of ‘Death, weak, vulnerable.’ ”

Where is Teddy Kyle Smith now? 

In December 2014, Smith was found guilty on all counts of assault, robbery and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

Dommek Jr. told Gold Derby that the interview with Smith took him eight years to arrange. Smith reportedly called him after listening to Midnight Son and didn’t change his original story during their sit-down.

“The first thing he told troopers wasn’t a defense — he immediately described his encounter in the mountains,” Dommek Jr. said. “He knew he was in trouble, but the first thing he started talking about was what he saw out there. That really caught my attention.”

Now, Smith said he feels remorse for his actions and realized he had a choice that, at the time, he couldn’t see.

“No growth can happen in me if I’m not sorry for what I did to the Buckels and I know that for a fact,” he said. “Even know I ask that they become blessed in whatever they do and I ask forgiveness … Every opportunity I get to help them out, I will.”