IA v. BECKER (2010)

24-year-old Mark Becker is accused of murdering beloved high school football coach Ed Thomas. The victim was overseeing a summer weight training session when Becker, a former star player who had spent his post-graduate years battling mental illness, walked in. Becker pulled out a revolver and fired multiple rounds at Coach Thomas, then stomped and kicked his body as students fled the weight room. Becker told police Thomas was a "devil tyrant" who "turns us into fish and he turns us into animals and he turns us into dead people." Police found no reasonable motive for Becker's actions. The men's families were close friends and Becker had known Coach Thomas virtually his entire life. The defense alleges Becker was insane at the time of the shooting.