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Mo. man acquitted in Facebook plot to kill grandparents, guilty of assault

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – A Columbia man has been acquitted of plotting on Facebook to kill his grandparents but convicted of attacking them.

Kelly -photo Boone Co.

Defense attorney Stephen Wyse says he was pleased jurors found 20-year-old Brian Kelley not guilty Thursday of conspiracy to commit murder. Wyse said the conversation in which Kelley and co-defendant Jared Bears discussed killing Kelley’s grandparents was a “fantasy.”

Jurors did find Kelley guilty of two counts of fourth-degree assault and one count of first-degree domestic assault.

The probable cause statement says Kelley threatened and choked his grandparents, then grabbed a board and metal pipe to swing at the victims on New Year’s Eve 2017. The statement says Kelley’s grandparents were able to subdue him using wasp spray and threat of a firearm.

Bears is awaiting trial.

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