&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "73-year-old man waits 50 years to take revenge on his high school bully, shoots twice in the face")
A 73-year-old man waited more than 50 years to carry out his revenge after being bullied in school. South Dakota man Carl Erickson was sentenced to life imprisonment, when he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the second-degree murder of his former classmate Norman Johnson. He admitted to shooting him twice in the face.
The locker room incident that remained in Ericson's head for 50 years had driven him into severe depression. As teenagers, Norman Johnson was a sports star, and Carl Ericson was a student manager of a high school sports team. Normal reportedly bullied him in the locker room, and put an underwear strap over his head. The incident stayed in his subconscious for 50 long years. Johnson went on to become a retired teacher and track coach, and Ericsoon a businessman.
Johnson's daughter Beth says Ericson was always jealous of him. They have not met for years, and it was just goofing around in the locker room.
A first-degree murder charge could have resulted in the death penalty if the prosecutor had decided to pursue, but a deal was made. During his May arraignment, Ericsson told the judge, “I guess it was something that happened over 50 years ago. It was apparently in my subconscious.”
To back his plea, Bratland had presented an affidavit from psychiatrist Robert Geibink, who said he had a severe history of anxiety and depression. “Thinking was irrational, judgment was impaired.”
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Before receiving the sentence, he expressed regret and wondered if he would not have done that; he looked at Johnson's widow and wished he could “turn the calendar back”.
