Man in ‘too fat to kill’ case gets life in prison

December 18, 2009|Associated Press

HACKENSACK, N.J. - A Florida man whose “too fat to kill’’ defense didn’t win over a jury was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for murdering his former son-in-law in 2006.

In front of a crowded courtroom that included several of the jurors who convicted Edward Ates last month, state Superior Court Judge Harry Carroll called the killing of Paul Duncsak “a cold and calculated execution’’ and handed Ates the maximum sentence allowable.

When his convictions on burglary, weapons, and witness tampering counts are factored in, the 65-year-old Ates won’t be eligible for parole for more than 66 years.

“We feel justice was served,’’ said Barbara Duncsak, the victim’s sister-in-law. “The jurors did a wonderful job. He was guilty and he should get the maximum.’’

During the six-week trial, Ates’s defense centered on his physical state - at the time of the crime the 5-foot-8 Ates weighed 285 pounds.

Attorney Walter Lesnevich told jurors Ates didn’t have the energy to run up a staircase, shoot Duncsak, then make a 21-hour drive to his mother’s home to create an alibi.