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Nov-07-2009Defense Counsel Said Florida Man Was Too Out of Shape to Commit a Murder(topic overview)
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HACKENSACK, N.J. — A jury rejected a Florida man's claims that he was too fat to have run up and down a flight of stairs and killed his former son-in-law, convicting him Friday of murder. Edward Ates looked down and shook his head in court as he was found guilty of murder and weapons counts for killing Paul Duncsak, a 40-year-old pharmaceutical executive who was shot six times in August 2006. The panel of eight women and four men issued its verdict on its second day of deliberations after a trial that lasted more than a month. Ates, 62, had argued he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Duncsak from a perch on the staircase at Duncsak's home in Ramsey, about 25 miles northwest of New York, and make a quick getaway to Louisiana. [1] HACKENSACK, N.J. — A jury convicted a Florida man Friday of murdering his former son-in-law, rejecting the man's defense that he was too fat to have run up and down a flight of stairs to commit the crime and make a quick getaway. Edward Ates looked down and shook his head in court as he was found guilty of murder and weapons counts for killing Paul Duncsak, who was shot six times at his home in Ramsey, about 25 miles northwest of New York. Ates' "too fat to kill" defense provided an angle to the trial that attracted attention from the news media but didn't sway the jury of eight women and four men, who reached a verdict on their second day of deliberations after a six-week trial.[2]
HACKENSACK, N.J. — Jury deliberations continued Friday in the New Jersey murder trial of a Florida man who claims he was too fat to kill his former son-in-law. Edward Ates (AYTZ') says he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Paul Duncsak (DUNS'-kak) and make a quick getaway. He was 285 pounds when Duncsak was killed in 2006.[3] HACKENSACK, N.J. — No verdict was reached Thursday in the trial of a Florida man who claims he was too fat to have killed his former son-in-law, but jurors asked to review key evidence in the New Jersey case. Edward Ates (AYTZ') says he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Paul Duncsak (DUNS'-kak) and make a quick getaway.[4]
HACKENSACK, N.J. — A New Jersey jury has rejected a Florida man's claims that he was too fat to kill his former son-in-law and has convicted him of murder. The jury of eight women and four men issued its verdict against Edward Ates (AYTZ') on Friday, its second day of deliberations after a trial that lasted more than a month. Ates said he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot his former son-in-law and make a quick getaway to Louisiana.[5]
HACKENSACK, N.J. — The lawyer for a Florida man who claims he's too fat to have killed his former son-in-law told jurors Wednesday that all they have to do is look at his client to see that he's obese, old and in no condition to have committed such a murder. Prosecutors agreed that Edward Ates is far from fit but said he's still capable of methodically planning and carrying out the killing of Paul Duncsak. "He's not running a marathon. I'll agree he probably can't do that," Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Wayne Mello told the jury during closing arguments. "What he can do is execute his son." Prosecutors claim Ates drove from his home in Fort Pierce, Fla., to Duncsak's $1.1 million home in Ramsey, about 25 miles northwest of Manhattan, in August 2006 and shot him as he returned from work. Police quickly suspected Ates and found him 24 hours later at his mother's home in Sibley, La. Defense lawyer Walter Lesnevich said his client — 62 years old and at least 285 pounds at the time of the murder — didn't have the energy to run up a staircase, accurately shoot Duncsak and leave before police arrived, then make a 21-hour drive to his mother's home in order to create an alibi, as prosecutors claim.[6] Today, the scales of justice tipped against Ates. A New Jersey jury rejected his defense and convicted the''Florida resident of murdering Paul Duncsak, 40, of Ramsey, N.J. Ates, who is 5-foot-8, testified he had no motive for killing Duncsak and did not have the energy to accurately shoot him and quickly flee. He was 62 at the time. Prosecutors said Ates drove from Florida to Duncsak's home, climbed a staircase and shot Duncsak, who was involved in a bitter custody dispute with Ates's daughter after they divorced.[7] Prosecutors said Ates drove from Florida to Duncsak's home in Ramsey, New Jersey, climbed a staircase and shot the 40-year-old. The victim and Ates' daughter were involved in a bitter custody dispute after their divorce. Ates testified that he had no reason to want Duncsak dead and couldn't make such a drive that quick because of his weight. The jury of eight women and four men reached the verdict on its second day of deliberations after a trial that lasted more than a month.[8] Ates weighed 285 pounds at the time. Defense attorney Walter Lesnevich said they would immediately appeal the verdict. Prosecutors claimed Ates drove from his home in Fort Pierce, Fla., to Duncsak's $1.1 million home. Once there, they said he climbed a staircase and shot him as he returned from work. At the time, the victim and Ates' daughter were involved in a bitter custody dispute after their divorce. Police quickly suspected Ates and found him 24 hours later at his mother's home in Sibley, La. During the trial, Lesnevich said his client was in such bad shape that he could not have pulled off the shooting or made such a quick getaway, driving 21 hours drive to Louisiana in order to create an alibi as prosecutors claimed he did.[1] Sgt. Russ Christiana, that built a circumstantial case around cell phone records and computer forensics. "This was a complicated case, and it was good old-fashioned police work combined with new technology," Mello said. Prosecutors contended Ates drove from Florida to New Jersey, climbed a staircase and shot the 40-year-old Duncsak, a pharmaceutical executive who was embroiled in a bitter custody dispute with Ates' daughter after their divorce. Ates then drove 21 hours to his mother's house in Louisiana, prosecutors said. The last evidence the jurors reviewed in court on Friday was videotaped testimony from Ates' sister in which she admitted that she lied to authorities about when he arrived in Louisiana, per his request. Brenda Ates has already pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and is not expected to get prison time when she is sentenced, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Friday.[2]
Prosecutors say Ates drove from Florida to Duncsak's home in Ramsey, New Jersey, climbed a staircase and shot the 40-year-old pharmaceutical executive before feeling to Louisiana.[9]
Ates weighed nearly 300 pounds and was five feet 8 inches tall. In 2006 he drove from his Florida home to New Jersey where he shot and killed Paul Duncsak, 40, 2006, prosecutors said. Defense attorney, Walter Lesnevich, told the court that Ates is not physically capable of pulling off the crime, citing the long drive and the stairs he would have had to climb and descend during the killing.[10]
A jury in New Jersey found that a man accused of killing his former son-in-law was not too overweight to have committed the crime. Defendant claims he was too fat to have killed his former son-in-law. Edward Ates, the Florida man whose attorney used an obesity defense in his month-long murder trial, was found guilty today on murder and weapons charges after two days of deliberation.[10] The jury in the "morbidly obese" defense case heard closing arguments today on defendant William Ates, who is accused of murdering his former son-in-law in 2006, including a potential game-changing piece of evidence. Assistant Bergen Country Prosecutor Wayne Mello even poked fun at Ates' weight, saying, "He's not running a marathon. I'll agree he probably can't do that. What he can do is execute his son." The AP reports, "Prosecutors also said there was evidence that the killer was hungry: A Burger King hamburger wrapper was found near Duncsak's body, and Duncsak was on his cell phone moments before he was shot asking his girlfriend if she had left the Whopper wrapper there. She said she had not." Ates' lawyer reminded the jury that Ates was 60 pounds heavier than he is today"Look at him!"when the murder occurred, weighing in at 285 pounds, and wouldn't be able to "run up a staircase, accurately shoot Duncsak, leave before police arrived, then make a 21-hour drive to his mother's home in order to create an alibi as prosecutors claim."[11] Some of Duncsak's family members cried softly after the verdict was read. Ate's wife, Dottie, sobbed in the gallery as he was handcuffed and led away by court deputies. "It doesn't bring him back, but at least he won't get away with it," said Duncsak's sister-in-law, Barbara Duncsak. "It's satisfying. It was a long time coming." Ates had argued he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Duncsak from a perch on the staircase at Duncsak's home in August 2006. He was 62 years old, 5-feet-8 and 285 pounds at the time of the murder.[2]
At the time of the murder, Ates was 5 feet 8 inches tall and 285 pounds at the time of the murder in 2006. His defense team had argued that their client would have been too winded after climbing the stairs to hold a gun steady enough to shoot Duncsak.[12]
"Look at him," Lesnevich told jurors, noting that Ates was 60 pounds heavier at the time of the crime. Prosecutors also said there was evidence that the killer was hungry: A Burger King hamburger wrapper was found near Duncsak's body, and Duncsak was on his cell phone moments before he was shot asking his girlfriend if she had left the Whopper wrapper there. She said she had not. Prosecutors say that Duncsak, a pharmaceutical executive, and Ates' daughter, Stacey, were involved in a bitter custody dispute after their divorce and that Stacey had serious money trouble.[6] The 62-year-old was 285 pounds when Duncsak was killed in 2006. The victim and Ates' daughter were involved in a bitter custody dispute after their divorce. Ates testified that he had no reason to want Duncsak dead.[13]
Edward Ates was convicted by a New Jersey jury Friday for the murder of Paul Duncsak who had a nasty custody fight with Ate's daughter. [12] Edward Ates weighed 285 pounds when he was accused of murdering his former son-in-law in New Jersey in 2006. He argued that he was innocent: He was too fat to kill and make a getaway to Louisiana.[7]
The jury in the too-fat-too-kill murder case didn't buy a Florida man's argument that he was too overweight to have climbed the stairs at his ex son-in-law's New Jersey home to shoot him to death.[12] Prosecutors say the 62-year-old drove from Florida to New Jersey, climbed a staircase, shot the 40-year-old and fled south.[3]
Prosecutors presented evidence at trial to show Ates bought books detailing how to build a gun silencer, did Internet searches on how to pick locks and how to commit the perfect murder. Ates, meanwhile, testified at the trial that he often needed to take breaks while driving, implying that he wasn't capable of making the drive to Louisiana. Ates' doctor testified that bounding up the stairs, as the killer was thought to have done, would have caused Ates to become short of breath and shake, making it difficult to keep his wrist straight enough to accurately fire a gun at someone from a distance. Duncsak's mother, Sophia, has said Ates became vengeful toward her son after Paul Duncsak refused to give Ates money to keep Ates' struggling golf course in Okeechobee, Fla., afloat. [2] Prosecutors say Duncsak had set up a $1.5 million trust for the children that Stacey would control were Duncsak to die. Ates took the stand in his own defense during the trial, saying he had no reason to want Duncsak dead. He didn't delve much into his weight.[6] "Look at him," Lesnevich told jurors, noting that Ates was 60 pounds heavier at the time of the crime. Ates took the stand in his own defense during the trial, saying he had no reason to want Duncsak dead. He didn't delve much into his weight.[1]
Duncsak was shot once in the leg at an upward angle before the shooter bounded up four stairs and fired several more highly accurate and fatal shots, investigators said. Ates' doctor testified that running up those stairs would have taken a toll on a man the size of Ates, likely causing his hands to shake, making firing a gun accurately difficult. He also testified there's no way he could have then driven 21 hours straight. "He could go up four steps, but could he then maintain the pistol straight and not miss? That's a tough shot," Lesnevich told "Good Morning America" last week. "It was more than 4 feet away." [10]
Prosecutors said Ates, who been a good shot in the military and, more recently, had shot a snake, and therefore, certainly capable of committing the killing.[12] In this undated photo released by the Trenton, NJ prosecutor's office on Oct. 28, 2009, Edward Ates is shown.[4] Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Wayne Mello termed Ates' defense "nonsense" and credited dogged work by investigators, particularly Det.[2]
Jurors Friday rejected a man'''s claim he was too fat to have killed his former son-in-law. [14]
SOURCES
1. The Associated Press: NJ jurors convict Fla. man in 'fat defense' trial
2. The Associated Press: NJ jurors convict Fla. man in 'fat defense' trial
3. The Associated Press: Jury deliberations continue in 'fat defense' trial
4. The Associated Press: Jurors review evidence in NJ fat defense case
5. The Associated Press: NJ jurors convict Fla. man in 'fat defense' trial
6. The Associated Press: Closing arguments wrap up in NJ 'fat defense' case
7. 'Too fat to kill' Fla. man convicted of murder -
8. New Jersey Jury Doesn't Buy 'Too Fat to Kill' Defense - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
9. Jurors start deliberating NJ 'fat defense' case - Forbes.com
10. Edward Ates Found Guilty; Florida Man Not 'Too Fat to Kill' - ABC News
11. A Smoking Whopper Wrapper In "Too Fat To Kill" Case: Gothamist: New York City News, Food, Arts & Events
12. Jury Convicts Man Who Used Too-Fat-To-Kill Defense - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR
13. The Associated Press: Jurors start deliberating NJ 'fat defense' case
14. Jurors Reject '''Too Fat To Kill''' Defense
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