The grand finale came in February 2004 when, as a hidden video camera rolled, [Michael Bridges] calmly explained how he choked [Erin Chorney] unconscious, then decided to "finish her off."

Bridges said he cut the cord off his mother's hair dryer and used it to strangle Chorney. When she didn't die, he submerged her head in his bathtub for nearly 20 minutes.

[Greg Brodsky] argued yesterday that Bridges didn't form a plan to kill Chorney, which is needed to prove first-degree. He said it shouldn't matter that more than one weapon was used and more than one attempt was made to kill Chorney.