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Nov 6, 2009 3:15 pm US/Eastern
Man 'Too Fat To Kill' Found Guilty Of Murder
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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William Ates, 65, is accused of murdering his son-in-law. But he claims he's too obese to have committed the crime.
CBS
The Florida man who claims he was too fat to kill his former son-in-law in his New Jersey home was found guilty of the brutal murder on Friday, CBS station WCBS-TV reports.
Edward Ates claimed he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Paul Duncsak and make a quick getaway across several state lines. He weighed 285 pounds when Duncsak was killed in 2006.
Deliberations began on Thursday. On Friday, jurors watched videotaped testimony by Ates' sister in which she admitted she lied about when Ates arrived at their mother's Louisiana home after the killing.
Prosecutors say the 62-year-old drove from Florida to New Jersey, climbed a staircase, shot the 40-year-old and fled south.
The victim and Ates' daughter were divorced and involved in a bitter custody dispute.
Based on his weight and other health concerns like asthma, Ates claimed he couldn't have committed the murder, even though he admits to owning a handgun.
"I had a licensed permit to carry," he said in court last week.
His attorney, Walter Lesnevich, said his client's condition made it impossible to do the crime.
"He's a classic overweight, morbidly obese, diabetic man," Lesnevich told WCBS. "He medically could not have done it."
Prosecutors said the victim was talking on the phone to his girlfriend when Ates entered his home and shot him six times. She called 911 and police arrived within minutes.
"Physically, he could not have done it. Because he would have had to go through all of this effort, this accurate shooting, this rapid escape, and this 21-and-a-half-hour drive," said Lesnevich.
Police arrested Ates the next day at his mother's home in Louisiana, where he claims to have been at the time of the shooting.
"You murdered Paul Duncsak in cold blood and fled that scene driving to your mother's home, isn't that the truth?" assistant prosecutor Wayne Mello asked Ates on the stand.
"No sir, that is not true," he replied
During the trial, the prosecution showed that Ates bought books on how to make a gun silencer, and searched the Internet on how to pick locks and on how to commit the perfect crime.
The victim's mother believes the motive for the killing was her son's decision not to lend Ates $250,000 for a business venture.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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