HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) -- A Jury in the New Jersey has convicted a Fort Pierce man who claimed he was too fat to kill his former son-in-law.
Edward Ates said he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Paul Duncsak and make a quick getaway. He was 285 pounds when Duncsak was killed in 2006.
The jury didn't buy it. The jury asked to review Ates' testimony, wiretapped phone calls between Ates and his sister and testimony from a neighbor who said he saw Ates' car at his mother's house the night of the murder.
Prosecutors say the 62-year-old drove from Florida to New Jersey, climbed a staircase, shot the 40-year-old and fled to Louisiana.
The victim and Ates' daughter were divorced and involved in a bitter custody dispute.
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.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
