Oct 30, 2009 6:10 am US/Eastern
Murder Suspect Says He's Too Fat To Commit Crime
Both Defendant William Ates And Attorney Say His 285-Pound Frame Eliminates Possibility That He Pulled Trigger
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
A man charged with murdering his son-in-law in Hackensack is claiming he's too fat to have committed the crime.
He stands 5-foot-9 and weights 285 pounds. Based on that and other health concerns like asthma, 65-year-old Edward Ates says 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 Thursday.
.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 CBS 2. "He medically could not have done it."
Gates, of Fort Pierce, Fla., is on trial for the 2006 shooting death of 40-year-old Paul Duncsak, shot six times in his Ramsey, N.J. home. Prosecutors said the victim was talking on the phone to his girlfriend when he entered his home and was repeatedly shot. She called 911. 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. The assistant prosecutor is Wayne Mello.
"You murdered Paul Duncsak in cold blood and fled that scene driving to your mother's home, isn't that the truth?" 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. Closing arguments will be next week.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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