Fast guilty of stepmother's murder

Tom Fast had alot going against him because of health issues and the prosecution took advantage of that. I can only believe that Bruce Fast planted the evidence to make it look like his son did this crime. My feelings could be 100% wrong, but if i`m right, Bruce Fast has to be one of the sorriest human beings walking this earth. If Bruce was behind this crime, God will deal with him in his own way. I really thought the vertict was going to be at least a hung jury. I try to look only at the good in people and i don`t see any good in Bruce Fast!!!!

I am very relieved by the guilty verdict. Justice has been served.

It's a sad day when you can't trust your justice system.

It's interesting to see that in USA a man can declared guilty with such evidence.

Thomas Fast in my eyes is innocent. His father should be doing the time Thomas received. The majority of the evidence was given to the police by Bruce Fast after the police had checked not once or twice but three times maybe Bruce should run every investigation from now on he seems to find every evidence better than law enforcement.

It was more than inappropriate for Ashley to ask Mr. Fast how could he walk away from his son knowing of his son's mental illness. She then told him that the husband of the woman who killed her five children forgave his wife because of her mental illness. For her then to ask if he was a religious man, or believed in forgiveness, added insult to injury. She stepped over the line and I am appalled that she would treat a victim that way.

Wasn't convinced he did it. But then he did not testify. He could at least testify and tell us what he was writing during the trial. Maybe he was innocent. But we will never know.

Hope the police got enough incentives to see if the father, Bruce Fast, has something to do with it. Maybe that will exonerate the son, if the investigation into the father will ever happen.

The DNA and blood in the car convicted this guy. Hard to argue with DNA.

I really think Thomas Fast, is not guilty of murder, he is only guilty of being mentally disturbed. His father (Bruce) has a lot of answering to satisfy me. Thomas needed a better lawyer.

Thomas fast was found guilty so I will respect that verdict, however, I find it rather cold that a father can turn his back on his son for the rest of his life. I mean I understand the horrific crime that was commited, so Bruce has his good reasons........but..........that's still his son ,and he even admitted to his son being sick since he got out of the army. Just a sad situation all the way around. I found it funny that Thomas Fast's mother wasn't called on the stand. Was she even in the court room??

May Susan now rest in peace and I hope the family in some way can heal.

No question,he is 100% guilty!!!

What ever happen to reasonable doubt.I wonder how many innocent people are in jail.

Thank God for Guilty verdict On Thomas Fast.
The murder was sadistic enough!
Trudy in Al.

What stood out to me was the fact that Bruce Fast asked for the death penalty against his son. Regardless of my personal feelings regarding the death penalty, one wonders what kind of man would wish that punishment on his own son. Bruce Fast, while entitled to grief over his murdered wife, seemed to dismiss the fact that he was Thomas' father. A sad story altogether, but it seems clear that the problems in that family started way before Susan's murder. How much of Thomas' mental problems lead to his father Bruce? No excuse whatsoever for murder, but that self-satisfied attitude he evoked on the stand made me feel a bit sorry for Thomas, having Bruce as a father.

I am stunned by the verdict as there was a lot of reasonable doubt.
The justice system is scary. I was not convinced that Thomas did this and it should have been a hung jury if a not guilty verdict was too much for the jurors. Maybe he can get good representation and have a mistrial declared.

Tom Fasts DNA could have got on the car anytime before this crime was committed. Why didn`t they collect DNA from the saw or the jewelry or those towels. I still think Bruce planted the evidence after law enforcement allready looked twice. I can`t believe the jury couldn`t see that. I don`t think the jury took enough time to work out the facts in this case. Looks like they convicted another innocent man.

Here is a question...why didn't they find the jewelry on the first and second search of the dufflebag? It was clearly planted.

Here is another question....were prints taken from the jewelry? It is possible to retreive latent prints or even partial prints off of small trinkets and necklaces. Let's think about this.

If my son killed my husband, the love of my life, he would no longer be my son, in my eyes. He would be a criminal who would be serving the rest of his life in jail, without my support.

My thoughts are there is something about this father.. He should have been looked at more. From the very beginning he implicated his son. that was to get suspicion off himself..too many questions not enough answers.

Just sad, all the way around sad. No one wins in these cases.

I also feel it should have at least been a hung jury. I would have held out because I could have not found Thomas Fast guilty beyond a resonable doubt. Too many questions about the father. Too many times he was there when evidence was found.

I was a juror in this case and I will say that with all the evidence we the jury had no doubt that Thomas Fast was guilty. He tried getting someone to go with his alibi. The letter he wrote was in his writing. he also has posession of her jewelry. As for the many times the bag was gone through and not heard there was a watch, earrings, ring, anklet all tucked in that same space in the deoderant. The cab picked him up a mere mile and a half from where the car of Mrs Fast was found and he told detectives if she were found it would be in a wet place. Dna was there in the house and car of both Thomas and Susan. Thomas chaged his alibi. I think that it is totally wrong to blame Bruce or accuse him and the police of planting evidence. You can't plant dna and blood.

Even as bad as this crime is, how can anyone say that he or she`s not your child anymore?? That`s like saying, i don`t like my child so i`ll just throw them away!!! If one disowns a son, daughter, sister, or brother has got to be as sick as the one committing the crime. The right thing to do is to get them help. There are too many things in this case that point to Bruce Fast but i guess the jury couldn`t see that. I have to agree with Megan that it was very cold on Bruces part to turn his back on his son. God teaches us to forgive not to hate. I also agree with Hope, i also think the jewelry was planted. I just hope Tom will be alowed to fight this on appeal.

[...] Fast guilty of stepmother's murder BRADENTON, Florida–After deliberating for just over four hours Monday, a jury of 5 men and 7 women found Thomas [...] [...]

wow another innocent man in jail. The justicesystem is as corrupt as ever. OBVIOUSLY the jewelry was planted. The justice system is just made to get paid, thats it.

I agree with most of the posters here. There was just something too fishy about Bruce Fast. First, he points the finger immediately to his son. Secondly, Bruce Fast was the one who (after many, many other searches in that area) led Police to where the towels and other things belonging to Susan were. Thirdly, my children will always be my children and I can't even imagine requesting the death penalty for any one of them, regardless of whatever crime they might have committed.

If I were the investigator on this case, I would be watching Bruce Fast for a very long time. I wonder how long it will take him to "take up" or marry someone much younger than Susan???

I thought I was through commenting; however, one fact eluded me. In looking at the replay again, it was noted that at first they said they had extracted semun from her vagina and that she had been raped. Now they say 34 years later that she had not been raped and that what they found wasd PROBABLY skin cells; it was a mistake. That statement alone should have put reasonable doubt into the minds of the jurors. Did the authorities then know what they were doing?? How could they reach the conclusion that she had been raped when her hyman was intact? And why didn't the jurors weigh this information in determining the verdict. I only hope the authorities continue the search for the real perpetrator; they seemed only too anxious to bring "closure" to the entire case to clear the record of one more unsolved cold case.

i dont want this to sound so accusing. but i agree with the people here saying that the older fast should also be investigated. it seems so easy for him to ask for a life sentence for his son. and the fact that he knows where to find the evidences seems to me that he knows more than what he say.

So Fast gets life without parole for killing his stepmother while Barrett gets 44 years for killing a 9-year old?

I was stunned when I just found this case re Tom and his father Bruce. I knew the family for several years when they lived in Potomac, MD. Tom and his brother were young boys, unhappy boys because of the father. He wasn't very caring or kind to his sons. Bruce's spouse at the time (but not the mother of the boys) worried about what might happen to the boys because they were mistreated. I would think Tom may have been railroaded by his father. Bruce was an extremely manipulative and mean person. Sadly for the boys, this spouse divorced Bruce when he became unbearable.
I am still in shock to find out about this murder and that Tom was found guilty, of all people.