HACKENSACK, NJ (AP) -- New Jersey prosecutors are trying to portray a Treasure Coast man, who claims he was too fat to have killed his former son-in-law, as a skilled marksman.
Edward Ates claims he didn't have the energy to accurately shoot Paul Duncsak and make a quick getaway. Under cross-examination Thursday, Ates admitted he once used his revolver to shoot a snake during a road trip.
The 62-year-old was 285 pounds when Duncsak was killed in 2006.
Prosecutors claim Ates drove from his home in Fort Pierce to Duncsak's $1.1 million home in Ramsey, about 25 miles northwest of Manhattan, in August 2006 and shot him as he came home from work. Police quickly suspected Ates and found him 24 hours later at his mother's home in Sibley, La.
Duncsak and Ates' daughter were involved in a bitter custody dispute after their divorce.
A defense lawyer says the prosecution theory would mean that the killer would have had to run up a set of stairs. He says Ates couldn't have done that and fired a gun accurately. He says exertion would cause his hands to shake.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
