By Mollee Francisco

Assistant Carver County Attorney Peter Ivy called it “the ultimate betrayal” – a son plotting to kill his parents for life insurance money.

In his closing statements, Ivy painted 21-year-old Grant Everson as a son who “masterminded, planned, plotted and carried out” a “sad and tragic crime,” betraying the “father and mother that gave him birth.”

Nancy Everson was found shot to death in her Chaska residence on Jan. 15. Her husband Tom testified that he fled their home that morning after hearing a pair of gunshots, fearing that he would also be killed by their son.

“There was absolute conviction that my wife was dead and my son did it,” said Tom in a press conference.

But Everson, who last week was found guilty of four counts of murder, isn’t the only Twin Cities youth convicted of betraying his parents. Just months before Everson’s mother was found shot to death, Matthew Niedere, of Hastings, conspired with two of his friends to kill his parents Patty and Peter Niedere for life insurance proceeds.

Seventeen-year-old Niedere, and friend Clayton Keister, also 17, shot the couple at their Hastings auto glass company. A third teen, Jamie Patton, did not take part in the murders but did participate in an unsuccessful murder attempt the night before.

“How saddened I was to learn of the facts of our case in October 2005,” said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, who prosecuted the Niedere case. “And then a few months later, this (Everson case).”

Emotional cases

Tackling cases where one family member is accused of killing another are challenging. 

“It’s extremely difficult in tragedies of this nature that clearly tear apart families,” said Backstrom. “You’re trying to make sense of an incomprehensible act.”

“It’s not something you can deal with quickly,” he added.

In the Niedere case, prosecutors moved slowly, involving surviving family members at every step of the process.

“Victims in any crime need to be dealt with appropriately and compassionately,” he said.

Backstrom said that his team met with 15 to 20 members of the Niedere family.

“That in itself was unusual,” said Backstrom. “But we wanted to get their input.”

In his case, they took extra time to explain the legal process to the family and allowed them the opportunity to look extensively at the evidence.

But working with so many family members can also complicate the process. In the Niedere case, family members were not unanimous in their decision as to how the prosecution should proceed.

“Ultimately it’s the prosecutor’s decision, but it is important to get the input of the family,” said Backstrom.

Carver County Attorney Michael Fahey followed a similar process when prosecuting the Everson case.

“We always try to meet with the victims in person to try to make them feel more comfortable,” said Fahey. “We stressed working closely with Tom.”

Differences

Both Niedere and Keister pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. But unlike Everson, neither case ever went to trial.

“Both pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting each other in the murder of Matthew’s parents,” said Defense Attorney Daniel Guerrero in an e-mail. Guerrero represented Keister. “They will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

“Not a great result for two teenage boys, but the alternative, given the evidence against them, was a life sentence without the possibility of parole.”

Everson didn’t get that option.

“The county attorney’s office did not give us an offer on this,” said Everson’s attorney, Christine Funk. “We would have considered an offer.”

“As the county attorney, one of our obligations is to consider (a plea deal),” explained Fahey. “But Tom was adamant about the first-degree premeditated murder charge, and we were supportive of that.”

For Fahey, a conviction in this murder was “very important.”

“We don’t see that many murders in the first-degree here in Carver County,” he said. “That’s a blessing.”

It was the “amount of planning” and the “total lack of remorse” that convinced prosecutors to take Everson’s case to trial.

“This is from Day 1,” said Fahey. “There is no response (from Everson).”

“There’s no remorse whatsoever,” he added. “That is very troubling.”

Everson will be sentenced sometime in January. With a guilty verdict for first-degree premeditated murder charges, Everson faces life in prison, without the possibility of parole.

 For more on the Everson story, see this week's print edition of the Eden Prairie News.