Carl Ericsson was sentenced to life in prison on Friday by a South Dakota judge after being found guilty in the murder of former classmate Norman Johnson in January. Ericsson, 73, allegedly rang Johnson’s doorbell, asked if he was Johnson, and then shot him dead on the scene. (Kind of like that one scene with the wrong Sarah Connor in “Terminator.”)
What were Ericsson’s motives? A locker room prank from the 1950s at Madison (S.D.) High School that Ericsson evidently held a grudge over since then.
“He said that a jockstrap was put on his head,” prosecutor Kenneth Meyer said, according to the AP. “It’s the only thing he’s ever mentioned in talking to law enforcement.”
“I guess it was from something that happened over 50 years ago,” Ericsson told a judge previously. “It was apparently in my subconscious.”
Ericsson was a student sports manager at Madison then while Johnson was a track star. There are reportedly no other details from Ericsson’s locker room story, nor has it been verified.
Today’s lesson: Don’t be a bully to anybody. Because 50 years from now, when you’ve long forgotten about them or what you did, they could wind up on your doorstep with payback.
H/T The Big Lead
