Gordon Lasley Jr. had intent to kill parents, prosecutor says in closing

Gordon Lasley Jr. didn't want to 'hurt or maim (parents), 'he wanted to kill them” with the 3-foot homemade machete, Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams said in his closing argument Tuesday.

Williams said there's two statements Lasley made to others after the killings to show he wasn't suffering from a mental disease or defect and he understood the nature and quality of his actions. He called his girlfriend, standing over his father's dead body, and told her he killed his parents.

Lasley then goes to his brother's house and whispers in his ear 'I killed mom and dad” Williams said. 'People whisper when they don't want others to hear,” Williams said. 'He then paces around and says I'm sorry over and over. He's fully conscious.”

'This is a case of impulsive hostility and uncontrollable anger,” Williams told the jury.

The jury started deliberations late Tuesday following seven days of testimony. Deliberations resume 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Lasley is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Gordon Lasley Sr. and Kim Lasley, on Feb. 5. According to testimony, Lasley used a machete to stab the two in their home on the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama.

Lasley didn't dispute the fact that he killed his parents, but is claiming insanity at the time of the offense.

Williams said Lasley didn't a have job, no money, he lived in basement of his parents house, he had three kids and a girlfriend his parents didn't like and he told her he was 'sick of it.”

His father is drunk and says something mean and belittling, which triggers Lasley's anger, and he picks up the machete and 'strikes” him until he's dead. Then, he chases his mother down the stairs and stabs her numerous times until she's dead.

Williams uses a wooden machete to demonstrate to the jurors how the blood and stab wounds tell the story of what happened.

When Lasley first raises the machete, that's enough time to form intent and premeditation.

Williams said nobody saw signs of insanity except the two psychologists that testified for the defense. None of the nurses, teachers, jailers, family members, or several counselors when he was in juvenile treatment centers. They said he had conduct disorder, substance abuse issues, and anti-social traits. The evidence doesn't support an insanity defense, Williams said.

John Burns, Lasley's attorney, said in his closing there's only one possibility of what happened because no 'sane person” would do this. There's evidence that Lasley was having delusions that night. He asked the jury to look at the psychological testing conducted by experts. They diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia and delusional disorder.

Burns said Lasley was consumed by the delusion that his parents had infected him with AIDS and bad medicine or a 'hex” was put upon him. He was tested in 2011 and the test was negative but he continued to believe otherwise. This belief 'lies below the surface” for three years until that day he sees a Facebook post warning others on the Meskwaki Settlement that a sexually transmitted disease is going around.

Lasley told one of the psychologists that he felt out of control and couldn't stop it, Burns said.

Burns asked the jury to find Lasley not guilty by reason of insanity.

Williams on rebuttal said Burns' explanation of why it happened is too easy.

'We don't want to think people are capable of evil but the truth is there are people capable of evil and they are sane.”