Rick Chavis News Today

Adult prison? apparently, the judge had his own misgivings. a month later, he threw out their convictions and the lawyers worked out a deal. the boys pleaded guilty to third degree murder. alex was sentenced to seven years, derek, eight. they would end up serving time in separate florida juvenile detention centers. and rick chavis? his jury didnt like him. but they didnt think there was enough evidence that he swung the bat. so -- >> as to count i of the indictment, not guilty. >> chavis was acq...

Boys didnt seem to really grasp it. >> when james stokes, the attorney for alex, was giving this very impassioned plea before the jury fighting for this childs life literally he finally went and sat down at the defense table and looked over at alex to see alexs reaction and alex was hiding a laugh. he had no concept. he was oblivious to what was going on. >> the jurors almost certainly noticed that childish demeanor. but what did it mean? that these children were so emotionally detached they rea...

Learned to talk easily, though kathryn says they have never discussed alexs role in the brutal murder of his father. >> what can you tell me about your dad? >> i dont have too many memories of his personality because we didnt have too good of communication. he was usually tired a lot from having to work and running around, and he was always stressed. and so he slept a lot. >> they were poor, they moved a lot and terry was often out of work. >> what kind of work would he do? >> he worked at print...

But just what the decision was remained a secret under seal until after alex and derek king could go to trial for the very same charge. opening arguments in their case would begin the following month. so next the trial of the king brothers. the jailhouse scrubs were gone and the brothers were dressed in their sunday best. now they were the defendants, accused of the premeditated murder of their father. >> alex was the one who wanted his father dead, who encouraged his brother, derek, to do it. >...

Can go to and all the treats to give you and things like that. this guy -- >> rick? >> this guy presented himself. was it in that situation kind of? >> really, i dont think about it. i dont dwell on it. but its not a really joyful part of my life. >> clearly, alex was also uncomfortable when the questions turned to his fathers murder. >> so what made it happen? what was the trigger? thats what i still dont get. >> the trigger? >> yeah. >> i dont really know. maybe it was stress, you know. maybe ...

>> did you at some point believe you were in love with ricky chavis? >> yes, sir. >> prosecutor david rimmer laid out the theory that chavis had killed the boys father to get him out of the way so he could have alex to himself. alex testified on the night of the murder, he and derek were asleep in their house, their father was asleep, too, when rick sneaked in. >> rick came in our room and he woke derek up and told us to be quiet. >> it was just after midnight, alex testified. he said he and his...

She was a journalism professor who had heard about the case from a former student, now a reporter. >> i called her and i said, this needs looking into a little. so we began as a team, just to try to solve the mystery. it led to the writing of a book. >> for her research kathryn medico had begun writing the brothers, talking by phone. her daughters had gone to the same school as the boys and were about the same age. they took an interest as well. >> they felt a connection early on and they began ...

It is about sharing your life with someone else. before i met rick, i was straight, but now i am gay. the prosecutor suggested these notes showed alex was so fixated on chavis that he would kill his own father. but when it came time for the boys defense their attorney portrayed rick chavis as the pedophile who pulled the strings in this whole ugly mess. >> once he began his relationship on alex, he started more on, terry cant love you the way i can, terry is abusive and derek has been allowed to...

The publics attention the way this one did. >> two children accused of a murder where the victim was their own father. >> two brothers, ages 13 and 14. >> its called parenticide. a child killing a parent. >> two brothers confessed to killing their father with a baseball bat. but then they changed their story claiming they didnt murder their father. their family friend, rick chavis did it. so they all were charged with the murder of the boys father and rick chavis would be the first to go on tria...

In the waning days of summer 2002, while most kids were getting ready to head back to school, alex king and his brother, derek, were waiting to find out if they were heading to prison. would a jury convict them of murdering their father with a baseball bat? in five hours, the boys had their answer. >> the clerks office would publish those two verdicts, please. >> jurors said it was alexs banal but horrifying description of the murder scene that told them the boys werent in rick chavis car at all...