Remember Steve Buscemi’s role in Billy Madison where he has a hit-list of all the people who wronged him in school? Well it seems as if 73-year-old Carl V. Ericsson had a similar list. Ericsson murdered a former classmate over an incident that happened 50 years ago! Read more below.
The 72-year-old man gunned down by a former high school classmate in January over a 50-year grudge was a loving grandfather and respected by coworkers and the community.Norman Johnson was shot and killed at his doorstep by Carl V. Ericsson, 73, on Jan. 31. On Friday, Ericsson was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The sentencing brings some closure to a brutal killing sparked years ago by a sports incident when the two were in high school, in which a jockstrap was pulled over Ericsson’s head.
“I can’t blame you for being jealous of Dad,” testified Beth Ribstein, Johnson’s daughter. “In high school, he was popular, he was athletic, he dated Mom. They had 52 wonderful years together. He had two daughters that adored him, four grandchildren that worshiped him. Over 600 people attended his funeral.”
Ericsson apologized to Johnson’s widow in a brief statement before he was sentenced. “I would just like to tell Mrs. Johnson how very sorry I am for what I did,” he said. “I just wish I could turn the calendar back.”
Before handing down the mandatory life sentence, Judge Vince Foley disregarded Ericsson’s apology.
“We understand in society what depression causes, but it doesn’t excuse it,” Foley said. “Your medical records made it clear that you knew right from wrong. I reviewed all of your records, and it’s apparent to me that you really just didn’t give a darn.”
Ericsson’s brother told police shortly after the murder that Ericsson was a depressed alcoholic who still held a grudge against Johnson.
Ericsson visited several homes in Madison the evening of Jan. 31, knocking on doors, wandering through back yards and shining flashlights through windows, witnesses told police. Reports prompted police that night to urge people to stay in their homes and not answer doors. Later police learned Ericsson had been carrying a semiautomatic pistol with 17 rounds in the clip.
At his arraignment hearing last month, Ericsson told Foley that he rang the doorbell at Johnson’s house then asked his old classmate to verify his identity before shooting him with a .45-caliber pistol.
Ribstein’s sister, Terri Wiblemo, also testified. Wiblemo spoke directly to Ericsson. She reminded him that Sunday will be the first Father’s Day without her dad.
“My dad liked to celebrate Father’s Day with fried chicken, potato salad and a big slice of rhubarb pie,” she said. “We miss my dad very much, my whole family misses my father very much. The rest of the world knew my dad much differently than you seem to know him.”
