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Ari Liggett Guilty In Mother's Poisoning, Dismembering Death

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - A man accused of poisoning his mother then dismembering her and stuffing her body into crates in the back of her car was found guilty on Monday of first-degree murder.

Ari Liggett, 26, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of Beverly Liggett, 56, in October 2012. He will be sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole.

"The sentence in this case relatively automatic," Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said.

His lawyers said he suffers from mental illness that manifests itself in delusions and obsessions. The prosecution acknowledged that but said because he had been buying cyanide -- the poison that killed his mother -- in bulk over the years proved that the crime was carefully considered.

"Ari Liggett was sane at the time he murdered and ultimately dismembered his mother," Brauchler said.

Beverly Liggett had taken her son out of her will, a motive in the killing, prosecutors said.

Liggett was arrested on Oct. 17, 2012, after officers found him driving Beverly Liggett's Honda CR-V. Her remains were discovered in plastic storage boxes in the back of the SUV.

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