Edward Ates reaction on being pronunced guity of murder after his trial for for killing Paul Duncsak, was one of disbelief. Duncsak was shot six times at his home 25 miles north-west of New York.

The two man had a long running business dispute.

Ates's lawyers built their client's defence case on a "too fat to kill" arugment reminiscent of a Jerry Springer show guest who was unhappy that his claim for disability befefits on grounds of being "too fat to wipe" had been turned down. It was not so much Ates' 285 lb weight that his case hinged on but the fact that someone of his age and that heavy could not have made a quick getaway before police arrived to investigate the shots.

Ates had argued he did not have the energy to accurately shoot Duncsak from a perch on the staircase at Duncsak's home in August 2006.

It was a poor defence when we remember that the current World Heavyweight boxing champ weighs 300lb.

The prosecution presented forensic, computer and video evidence placing Ates at the scene of the crime and showed that his gun had beenn used in the murder. Witnesses also said the killer had "bounded up the stars" to Dunscak's apartment. His having driven from Florida to shoot his victim and them drove for 21 hours to his mothers home in Lousiana as well as bounding up the stairs threw sufficient doubt on his claims of immobility and lack of energy to allow the jury to reach a gulity verdict.

Assistant Prosecutor Wayne Mello termed Ates' defense "nonsense" and credited dogged work by investigators that built a circumstantial case around cell phone and credit card records, video evidence and forensics.

This case teaches the would be criminal a lot about how not to win a Boggart Blog stupid criminal of the week award. Use old fashioned coin operated public phones to call home, use cash rather than credit card for small purchases and lose some weight. Being fat does not excuse murder.

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