Chaska man guilty of mother's murder

(AP) - A 21-year-old man was found guilty Thursday in the shotgun slaying of his mother, who was killed by the man's friend moments after he asked her where she wanted to be shot: "Head or chest?"

Grant Everson was convicted on four counts, including aiding premeditated first-degree murder. He faces life in prison.

He wasn't the triggerman in the death of Nancy Everson at the family's home in this Minneapolis suburb last Jan. 15. His friend, Joel Beckrich, testified that Everson lost his nerve at the last minute and passed him a shotgun and asked him to pull the trigger.

It was Beckrich, according to his testimony, who twice asked Nancy Everson where she wanted to be shot. She cursed her son, and when she made a move for the gun, Beckrich shot her, he testified.

Everson's father, Tom Everson, fled through a bedroom window and ran to a neighbor's house.

In court Thursday, Tom Everson sat in the front row, holding his head in his hand while the verdicts were read. He wiped away tears several times. His son sat at the defense table staring forward with no visible emotion.

Authorities said Everson and Beckrich and two other friends had hatched a plot to use a life insurance payout to open a coffee shop in Amsterdam and sell marijuana. Beckrich, 21, pleaded guilty to the killing in October.

He said Everson told his friends he had hit rock bottom. Everson's girlfriend testified that Grant had quarreled with his parents the night before the murder over his bad grades at technical school.

Another friend, 17-year-old Michael Gulden, testified during the trial that Everson and Beckrich initially planned to divvy up the killings: Grant would slit his father's throat and Beckrich would do the same to Nancy Everson. They would dress in black and bring the shotgun along for backup.

Gulden earlier pleaded guilty to lesser charges for conspiring in the plan. Another friend, 21-year-old Christopher Fuhrman, was cleared of similar charges; both got their deals in exchange for testimony.

Tom Everson awoke to his wife's screams. He testified during the trial that he immediately knew his wife was dead and his son was responsible.

Tom Everson grabbed his own handgun, hid in a walk-in closet and briefly planned to shoot his son to defend himself, he testified, but then decided to flee instead. He testified that he realized if he shot his son, he'd have to step over the dead body only to be faced with the body of his dead wife.

Beckrich is expected to serve 30 years in jail before becoming eligible for parole.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)