San Jose man found guilty in brutal ‘thrill kill’ of classmate

A San Jose man was found guilty this week of killing his high school classmate as part of an attack prosecutors say he planned for the thrill of it.

Jae Williams, 20, apparently was overwhelmed with tears in court as the jury’s verdict was announced after deliberating for a day, KTVU reported.

Prosecutors said Williams, who was 15 at the time, and his brother, Randy Thompson, concocted a plan to befriend fellow Santa Teresa High School classmate Michael Russell for the sole purpose of killing him in 2009.

The pair reportedly lured Michael, 15, to a backyard to smoke marijuana, where they beat him for roughly six minutes and stabbed him.

Williams told investigators he experimented with Satanism, and had previously beaten a cat to death, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

“I guess I just finally wanted to kill somebody,” Williams said, according to a transcript obtained by the newspaper of the interview conducted after the killing. “I had my chance and I took it.”

Williams and Thompson allegedly started looking for opportunities to kill Michael six weeks before they attacked him.

Williams, who now faces life in prison, and Thompson are being tried separately as adults. Thompson’s trial is due to start later this spring.