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U.S. NEWS Friday 10 august 2018

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Oklahoma teen to serve 5 life terms for killing family

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A the judge to award a no-
19-year-old Oklahoma parole sentence ahead of
man convicted of stab- Thursday's hearing, argued
bing his parents and three that Michael Bever was a
siblings to death was sen- willing participant in the
tenced Thursday to five life gruesome killings and that
terms in prison to run con- he should be locked up for
secutively, meaning that the rest of his life. The sen-
even with the possibility of tencing Thursday effective-
parole he likely won't ever ly achieves that.
be released. Life sentences are consid-
Michael Bever was 16 years ered 45 years for parole
old in 2015 when prosecu- purposes in Oklahoma,
tors say he and his older and inmates must serve
brother, Robert Bever, 85 percent of each sen-
killed their mother, father, tence before technically
two younger brothers and being eligible for parole.
5-year-old sister at their Calculated consecutively,
suburban Tulsa home. Two Bever's sentences total 253
other sisters survived the at- years and he must serve
tack. 85 percent, or 215 years,
Robert Bever, who was 18 before he reaches parole
at the time of the killings, eligibility.Bever's defense
pleaded guilty in 2016 and In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 file photo, Michael Bever, center, is led from a courtroom following attorneys said they plan to
was sentenced to life in jury selection in his trial in Tulsa, Okla. At right is his defense attorney Corbin Brewster. appeal his sentences.q
prison without parole . Mi- Bever was sentenced to 28 bidding them from mingling to murder his parents and
chael Bever was convicted years in prison for the as- with neighbors or playing siblings and that he hoped
in May of five counts of first- sault on his 13-year-old sis- with kids outside the family. killing them would bring him
degree murder. ter, in addition to the five Following the attack, Rob- fame.
The jury also convicted Mi- life sentences. ert Bever told police his Defense attorneys argued
chael Bever of one count Authorities have never re- parents beat him. He said that Michael Bever was led
of assault and battery with vealed the teens' motives his father once dragged astray by his older brother,
intent to kill for wounding in the slayings. him upstairs because he and Robert Bever testified
his then-13-year-old sister, Neighbors said the children left a light on and his moth- that he wanted to take re-
who survived the attack. were all home-schooled er slapped him so hard it sponsibility for all of the kill-
A 2-year-old sister was un- and that their parents kept left a mark. He described ings.
harmed. On Thursday, them on a tight leash, for- to police how he planned Prosecutors, who urged