In the bizarre case of a death caused by an “atomic wedgie,” a McLoud man pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree manslaughter. 
 
 Brad Lee Davis, 34, admitted he killed his stepfather on Dec. 21, 2013, “in the heat of passion while defending myself in a fight that got out of hand and went too far.” 
 
 The victim, Denver Lee St. Clair, 58, died when the elastic band of his torn, blue underwear was pulled over his head and ended up tightly against the front of his neck, cutting off his air, the doctor who did the autopsy reported. 
 
 St. Clair also had been beaten around the head, the doctor reported. 
 
 Atomic wedgie is the slang name for the most extreme version of the common underwear-yanking prank bullies pull in high schools across America. There are both how-to and how-to-survive videos online related to atomic wedgies that have been watched thousands of times. 
 
 Davis, then a casino worker, called 911 at 10:11 p.m. Dec. 21, 2013, after fighting with his stepfather at his stepfather’s trailer. He lived in another trailer of his stepfather’s nearby. His mother was in the hospital at the time. 
 
 Testimony changes 
 
 In an interview the next day, he told one investigator he gave his stepfather an atomic wedgie after he knocked his stepfather out and the fight was over, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing. 
 
 However, in an interview 10 days later, he told another investigator he gave his stepfather the wedgie while they were fighting and then he knocked his stepfather out. 
 
 He told investigators the two fought because St. Clair was calling him and his mother worthless. St. Clair had filed for divorce in September. 
 
 Davis had texted a friend that night he was fixing to mess Denver up and later texted he had nothing to lose, according to court records. 
 
 Davis was charged in January 2014 with first-degree murder. His jury trial had been set to begin Monday. His defense attorneys had planned to ask jurors to find he had acted in self-defense and acquit him. 
 
 Compromise reached 
 
 In a compromise, prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge to first-degree manslaughter and he agreed to plead guilty. There is no agreement on punishment so Pottawatomie County District Judge John G. Canavan Jr. will decide how long he will serve in prison. 
 
 The punishment for first-degree manslaughter is at least four years in prison. Prosecutors will ask for 35 years in prison. 
 
 The sentencing is set for July although a mitigation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. 
 
 Investigators found Davis had taken pictures with his phone of his stepfather on the floor both before and after giving him the atomic wedgie, records show. 
 
 Davis’ attorney, Bob Wyatt, said, “There was never any intent to kill him that way. I don’t think it was even foreseeable to him. ...He said it ...when he was interviewed that night, he said, ‘Man, I did a horrible thing when I gave him that wedgie.’ ...He didn’t even really know the guy died.” 
 
 The attorney also said, “He was just tired of taking it. He had been bullied all his life by this guy.” 
 
 Related to this story Show more 0 ||||| SHAWNEE — The "atomic wedgie" killer — who admitted having no excuse for his actions — was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison. 
 
 Brad Lee Davis, 35, of McLoud, pleaded guilty in May to first-degree manslaughter for killing his stepfather late Dec. 21, 2013, after a fight. He admitted to investigators he had done a bad thing, giving his stepfather a wedgie like something done in high school. 
 
 Pottawatomie County District Judge John G. Canavan Jr. on Thursday chose the punishment, imposing the prison sentence sought by prosecutors. The judge rejected a defense attorney's request to give Davis "a second chance." 
 
 The victim, Denver Lee St. Clair, 58, died after he was knocked unconscious and the elastic band from his ripped underwear was pulled over his head. The band ended up pressed tightly against his throat, strangling him. 
 
 The victim also suffered head wounds that prosecutors say would have been fatal if he hadn't died from the wedgie first. 
 
 The judge said he was troubled Davis took cellphone photos of the unconscious victim even though the victim was gurgling and clearly in distress from the wedgie. The judge also agreed with prosecutors that Davis beat his stepfather with some kind of object and then staged the crime scene to make it look more like an all-out fight. 
 
 Davis had been charged with first-degree murder. He had planned to claim at trial that he acted in self-defense but he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter instead. The judge could have sentenced him to as little as four years. 
 
 Davis described what he had done in interviews with investigators as an "atomic wedgie." That slang term is widely used for the most humiliating version of the underwear-yanking prank. 
 
 Davis, a former Marine, told the judge in May he had meant only to embarrass his stepfather. He told investigators his stepfather started the fistfight. He never admitted to using any kind of object. He also told investigators the two fought because St. Clair had insulted his mother. He called his stepfather a bully. 
 
 The two fought inside the victim’s trailer in McLoud. Davis lived in a nearby trailer that he was renting from his stepfather. His mother was in the hospital recovering from hip surgery. He claimed he had intended to stay the night with his stepfather and then the two of them were going to pick up his mother the next day. 
 
 Davis expressed remorse in his testimony in May and again in a written statement for a report to the judge. 
 
 “The fight ended with Mr. St. Clair face down passed out. After the fight out of anger from the fight with no excuse I pulled Mr. St. Clair’s underwear up over his head,” Davis wrote. “I have no good reason to explain this. All I can say is I am so sorry and ashamed of my actions. I truly loved and respected Mr. St. Clair. ... He was always my friend.” 
 
 Davis was cutting wood for a living at the time of the offense. He had been a maintenance worker at a casino before that. 
 
 In asking for a 30-year sentence, District Attorney Richard Smothermon told the judge, "This was not mutual combat. This was not self-defense. It was pure aggression." 
 
 The unusual way the victim died attracted national attention. The judge expressed sympathy Thursday to the victim's family for having to endure even more sorrow because of how the death occurred. 
 
 "I'm fully aware of the jokes and the way people have talked about it around town," the judge said. 
 
 The judge said he will reconsider his decision at a review in a year to 18 months. He urged Davis to take advantage of self-help programs in prison and said "we'll see how well you do." 
 
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– An Oklahoma man who gave his stepfather a fatal "atomic wedgie" was on Thursday sentenced to 30 years for the crime. Brad Davis, 34, in May pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Denver Lee St. Clair; at the time Davis said he killed the 58-year-old "in the heat of passion while defending myself in a fight that got out of hand and went too far." Police say both men had been drinking on the night of Dec. 21, 2013, and a fight ensued after St. Clair allegedly spoke ill of his estranged wife, Davis' mother. In a hearing early in the case, investigators testified that Davis knocked out his stepfather before the killer wedgie and took photos both before and after. St. Clair was found dead with his underwear pulled over his head, with the elastic band cutting off his air. The Oklahoman reports that the head wounds St. Clair sustained would have killed him, had the wedgie not ended his life first; Reuters reports St. Clair's cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. Davis, of McLoud, had faced between four and 35 years; the judge handed him the sentence that prosecutors had requested. Davis' lawyer had maintained his client had been bullied.