Jurors Begin Deliberations In Beckman Trial

MIAMI (CBSMiami) –  Jurors began deliberating Monday evening in the trial of Jason Beckman who stands accused of murdering his father, South Miami City Commissioner Jay Beckman in April 2009.

Closing arguments were underway earlier Monday.

Two former classmates of Jason said earlier in the trial that Jason had expressed hatred toward his father for years before the murder. The former classmates also testified that Jason kept a list of the people who crossed him.

Armando Torres, a former classmate of Beckman, also testified that he heard him say, on multiple occasions, that he wanted to kill his father.

"Sometimes he would direct those [comments] to me and sometimes to other people," Torres said. "He didn't like him very much, hateful, I would say."

The state's star witness, Lisa Syren, told jurors previously that Beckman showed her the shotgun that he was going to use on his father a week before the killing, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

"Jason then told me how he was going to kill his dad and make it look like self-defense," she told jurors.

Prosecutors also introduced a jailhouse informant who said Beckman admitted to shooting his father. The informant said the killing happened after the father made a joke about Jason while the younger Beckman showed a picture of actress Megan Fox.

The informant said Jay Beckman told his son "he wouldn't know what to do with that," and that the comment enraged Beckman, according to the Herald.

Members of the jury will not hear testimony about Beckman's Aspergers, a form of autism. The judge won't permit it and the defense lost a mistrial motion earlier in the trial as Judge Rodney Smith refused to allow testimony about the defendant's mental deficiency.

The state will not show jurors Beckman's taped statement to police because it does not support their theory of a planned murder, and allegedly reveals the odd vocal tones and speech patterns associated with the defendant's Asperger's syndrome.

Jason Beckman, now 21, is charged with first-degree murder and is facing life in prison if convicted.