Brothers Guilty of Killing Father

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PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A jury convicted 13- and 14-year-old brothers Friday of murdering their sleeping father with a baseball bat in an unusual case in which a man was tried for the same crime under a completely different prosecution theory.


AP Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Fla. Brothers Murder Case

Brothers Found Guilty of Murder
(AP Video)



Alex and Derek King had been charged with first-degree murder for last fall's slaying of Terry King, but the jury returned convictions on the less-serious charge. Both boys were also convicted of arson.

The elder boy, Derek King, bowed his head as they listened to the verdict. Alex stood stock still.

Convicted child molester Ricky Chavis, 40, was tried earlier for the murder, with prosecutors arguing that he, not the boys, wielded the bat that killed King. The verdict in his trial was sealed pending the outcome of the brothers' trial, but was not immediately announced.

Firefighters found the body of King, 40, on a recliner inside his burning home Nov. 26. The boys confessed to police a day after the slaying, but later recanted and said Chavis was the killer.

Prosecutor David Rimmer argued the boys were telling the truth the first time, and that their confessions are filled with the kind of detail only someone who was there would have known.

Defense lawyers contended the boys confessed to protect Chavis and parroted what he had coached them to say. That included such gory details as being able to see the victim's brain through a hole in his head and the raspy sound of his last gasps.

"Everyone in this courtroom can repeat those details," said James Stokes, Alex's lawyer. "The boys' stories line up because the boys' stories are rehearsed."