WHEATON, Ill., March 24 (UPI) -- A Chicago-area judge was unconvinced by a man's story that he killed a teenager by accident during a game of Russian roulette, finding him guilty of murder.
Anson Paape, 40, faces at least 45 years in prison for killing Michael Murray, who was shot in the head on his 18th birthday in 2004. He was convicted Friday in a non-jury trial in DuPage County, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Paape convinced Murray and three other teens to play Russian roulette with a .44-caliber pistol during a party at his house in Elmhurst. His lawyer argued that Paape did not realize there was a bullet in the gun's cylinder and believed he was playing an "innocent, idiotic birthday game."
Prosecutors argued otherwise.
"He knew what he was doing when he put the bullet in there and he knew what he was doing when he pulled the trigger," Prosecutor Tom O'Connor said.
