In a trial that exposed the dark side of the carnival circuit, a jury convicted the Human Blockhead in the contract slaying of his stepfather, the claw-handed, stub-legged Lobster Boy.
Jurors rejected Harry Glenn Newman's claims that the plot was the only way to protect his mother from his stepfather's violence, deliberating just over an hour Tuesday before returning their verdict.Newman, 20, who earned his sideshow nickname with his act of driving nails into his nostrils, quietly sobbed when he was pronounced guilty of first-degree murder, which brings an automatic life sentence without chance of parole for 25 years.
He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. Circuit Judge Donald C. Evans set sentencing for Sept. 23.
"They soundly rejected the proposition you can claim self-defense in a murder-for-hire situation," said assistant state attorney Ron Hanes.
Defense attorney Peter Catania said he was disappointed.
While Newman himself never claimed to be the target of serious physical abuse, he portrayed his genetically deformed stepfather as a drunken brute who beat his mother, butted her with his head and threatened to kill his entire family.