Teen to Serve a Life Sentence for Each Family Member He and His Brother Brutally Stabbed to Death
An Oklahoma teen will serve five life terms in prison for brutally murdering his mother, father, two younger brothers and sister in 2015.
Michael Bever, who was 16 at the time, carried out the killings with his older brother Robert Bever.
Robert was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2016 after pleading guilty to the murders.
Michael’s team of lawyers solely blamed Robert for the crime, saying Michael, now 19, was under his influence.
Nonetheless, prosecutors insisted Michael was just as responsible for the crime as Robert.
Parents David, 52, and April, 44, and siblings Daniel, 12, Christopher, 7, and Victoria, 5, died in their home in Tulsa of “multiple sharp force injuries,” an Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman confirmed to PEOPLE at the time.
They left two survivors: their 13-year-old and 2-year-old sisters.
On Thursday, Michael was given 28 years for assaulting his 13-year-old sister in addition to the five life counts, ABC News reported.
The 2-year-old was not harmed.
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Neighbors told authorities the children were all home-schooled and abided by very strict rules before the murders.
They were allegedly forbidden from socializing with children in the neighborhood, or anyone outside of the family for that matter.
Robert claims his parents were abusive, even saying his father allegedly dragged him up the stairs of their home for leaving on a light.
Robert also told police that he thought killing his family would make him famous.
“They wanted to kill at least 50 people,” detective Rhianna Russel said in court, CBS News reported. “They wanted a Wikipedia page. They wanted media coverage.”
Michael’s sentences add up to 253 years and according to Oklahoma law, he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
