Oklahoma Man Pleads Guilty in Deadly ‘Atomic Wedgie’ Case

An Oklahoma man has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for asphyxiating his stepfather with the underwear he was wearing in a move police dubbed an “atomic wedgie,” court officials said on Tuesday. [1] Brad Davis, 34, who pleaded guilty on Monday, faces between four to 35 years in prison for the death of Denver St. Clair, 58, in December 2013 in McLoud, east of Oklahoma City. A mitigation hearing is set for Wednesday with sentencing scheduled for July. Davis pulled St. Clair’s underwear over his head and around his neck, where the elastic band left ligature marks, police said. [1] An autopsy determined that St. Clair died after his airway was cut off from the elastic of his torn underwear that was pulled over his head from behind in a procedure nicknamed an “atomic wedgie,” according to the Tulsa World.  The cause of death was blunt force trauma and asphyxiation, Oklahoma Medical Examiner Amy Elliott said. [1]

The two men had been drinking the night of the incident, which took place at the older man’s residence. They got into a fight when Davis claimed St. Clair began speaking ill about Davis’ mother, who is St. Clair’s wife, Pottawatomie County Sheriff Deputy Travis Palmer has said. [1]  Davis’ mother was in hospital recovering from hip surgery at the time of the crime. [2] Davis punched his stepfather unconscious before stretching the man’s underwear over his head during a fight, he told Pottawatomie County District Judge John G. Canavan Jr. Davis claimed St. Clair attacked him first. [4] He admits to taking a photo of the scene on his cellphone, and hoping that St Clair would be embarrassed by the situation upon waking upHe admits to taking a photo of the scene on his cellphone, and hoping that St Clair would be embarrassed by the situation upon waking up. [2] Davis said: “I never had any intention of killing that man, there’s no way I ever thought that could have happened. … I was panicked, mad, scared. Things got out of hand.”  [4]  Davis never intended to kill St. Clair, his attorney Bob Wyatt told local media. “He was just tired of taking it. He had been bullied all his life by this guy,” Wyatt told The Oklahoman newspaper. Davis told the judge at a sentencing hearing Wednesday the whole thing is “like a bad dream,” according to The Oklahoman. Davis was set to begin a murder trial before pleading guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter. He originally told investigators the wedgie was achieved while the two struggled, not while St Clair was unconscious. [2]

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