Prosecutor says first-degree murder is only verdict for Edward Cusic

CEDAR RAPIDS - Edward Cusic beat to death his mother with a crowbar, hitting the frail 68-year-old woman as she 'raised her arms defensively to ward him off,” but continuing to hit her over and over again, a prosecutor said during his closing argument to the jury Tuesday.

'He hit her eight times,” Assistant Linn County Attorney Nic Scott said. 'The defendant committed first-degree murder. Now is the time you hold the defendant accountable for his actions.”

Cusic, 47, is charged with first-degree murder. The Linn County jury started deliberating about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The trial started Nov. 30.

According to last week's testimony, Cusic admitted to police that he killed his mother, Anita Labkon, on Dec. 7, 2012. He told police she was threatening him with a knife or gun.

Scott spent most of his argument reviewing elements of first-degree murder: malice aforethought, premeditation and specific intent.

There is no question that Cusic struck his mother with the crowbar and she died, Scott said. When he went outside to the garage to retrieve the crowbar and then killed her, he argued, that's premeditation and specific intent. Cusic could have instead left the house if he was in danger, Scott said.

Cusic told a Gazette reporter during a jailhouse interview five days after the killing that he intended to hurt his mother. That's malice aforethought, Scott said.

The prosecutor asked the jury to think about how Cusic had changed his story.

During a 911 call, he admitted to killing her. He claimed she was 'psycho, bi-polar and whacked out on pills.” His mother had a gun and he had to defend himself, he told a 911 dispatcher.

Then later in the back of a police car, he said she had two loaded guns but threatened him with a dagger - not a gun, Scott said.

In the jailhouse interview, he said he hit his mother only once with the intention of injuring her. In this version, she had a knife again.

Sara Smith, Cusic's attorney, said in her closing argument that this wasn't an easy case for the jury to decide.

There's no dispute that Cusic killed his mother, Smith said, but she asked jurors to look pass the 'horrific” and find out why this happened.

'There was no evidence that Ed and his mother didn't have anything but a normal son and mother relationship,” Smith said.

However, there was evidence that Cusic had several concussions from playing high school football and a serious car accident, which resulted in neuro-cognitive impairment, Smith said.

Arthur Konar, an Ames clinical psychologist, testified Cusic had diminished capacity the night he killed his mother and couldn't form specific intent. He said the impairment prevented normal function of Cusic's brain, and that - in combination with prescription drug intoxication - led to the attack.

Smith said Konar testified Cusic believed his life was in danger and he was defending himself. His brain wasn't accurately processing information and his view was distorted, she said.

She told the jurors they could skip over first-degree or second-degree murder because the state didn't prove either.

'Under the law, he didn't commit murder,” Smith said.