A San Francisco man has been convicted of murder and mayhem for using a meat cleaver to castrate and kill his father, whom he blamed for coddling him and fostering his drug addiction, authorities said Tuesday. It's not my fault! I have issues!!
After deliberating three days, a San Francisco jury on Monday found Jan Erickson, 28, guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated mayhem in the Oct. 10, 2004, attack on Stephen Erickson, 65.
...AND aggravated mayhem?
Residents of the Graywood Hotel on Mission Street heard the father's screams for help in the midst of the savage attack. He was stabbed 37 times, castrated and his eyes stabbed in a case that police said was one of the most horrific crime scenes in recent memory. The defendant, who did not testify at the trial, freely admitted killing his father out of rage. His attorney, Stephen Rosen, did not return calls seeking comment.
Probably trying to forget he ever met this guy.
According to prosecutors, the family did everything they could for Jan Erickson to have a better life. His parents, wanting the best education for their children, moved to Kentfield in suburban Marin County. The father sold health food supplements, and the family lived in a rental unit. Jan Erickson graduated from Redwood High in Larkspur with a B average. His older sister, Ava, went on to college and is now a graduate student at UC Berkeley. She declined to comment Tuesday. In court, she testified that the family had a nice life in Marin. She said her brother was in a high school band and was jealous of his peers for having more money.
Here's an idea, kid. Get a friggin job!
The parents divorced when he was 17 and, once out of school, he began to drift. At age 24, he became addicted to crack cocaine, prosecutors say. Nonetheless, the father, then a cab driver who lived in a single residency hotel in the city, let the troubled, unemployed son get free rent and food.
The defendant's mother, who is on disability, testified that she too indulged her son. She said that while she shopped and went job hunting with him, she also used methamphetamine with him and took him to solicit transvestite prostitutes.
Sound like Mother of the Year...for San Francisco.
The slaying came as the father was sleeping in the room's bunk bed. Jan Erickson, allegedly high on crack cocaine, attacked the sleeping man in the lower bunk, the same bed the son sometimes slept in, prosecutors say. While the defendant did not testify, he told psychiatrists that he hated his father for not being more strict with him while his life fell apart to drugs.
Aw, Jeez. Can ya blame him?
He provided a variety of other explanations. He said he loved his father but was tired of his own plight, sick of fighting people in the neighborhood and sick of his father's lectures. At the same time, he resented his father taking care of him and blamed his father for his troubles.
...and Bush. I blame Bush, too.
"The defendant, unquestionably, had some mental issues,'' said Assistant District Attorney Bob Gordon. "But we were able to show that he intended to kill his father. He freely admitted to killing his father.'' Erickson's defense portrayed him as having an unspecified psychotic disorder.
Note to defense lawyers: Always SPECIFY your client's psychotic disorder.
At the end of the trial, the defendant was prevented from hugging his mother, who was standing with open arms to embrace her son. With the jury watching, the defendant had an outburst, he struck a bailiff in the face with an open palm, shouted abuse, and had to be restrained.
Awwwwwwwwww. Who's ma gonna do methamphetamine with now?
In the end, the jury returned its verdict of second-degree murder on Monday after three days of deliberation. Erickson was found not guilty of torture. A date for sentencing has not been set. He faces a sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
Make sure you pull your "poor little me" act inside, Jan. They just eat that shit up.