Dateline: Too Fat To Kill - 5 harrowing details about the Paul Duncsak murder case, revisited

Dateline revisits one of the most alarming murder cases to ever center around a defense that somehow sounds like a setup for a dark joke: “too fat to kill.” But there’s nothing humorous about what happened to Paul Duncsak, a pharmaceutical executive trapped in the crosshairs of a nasty custody quarrel —and well… six bullets.

As Dateline retraces this distressing case, the details are as troubling as ever. Let’s take a look.

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The “Too Fat to Kill” defense that didn’t even fly: The case uncovered on Dateline

In a courtroom that might as well have been a platform for an out of shape drama, Edward Ates’ defense attorney was less about the “whodunit” factor and more about ‘could-he-even-do-it.?’

Ates’ legal team argued that at 5’8” and with Edward being nearly 300 pounds, he couldn’t have possibly run up the stairs, shot Paul Duncsak six times with a gun, and then have driven a whole of 21 hours only to authenticate a fake alibi. Walter Lesnevich, the defense attorney argued;

"You look at Ed, and you don't need to hear it from a doctor…"

According to Dateline, the jurors did in fact hear from the doctors—who confirmed about Ates' health issues regarding diabetes, being asthmatic, and sleep apnea (i.e., irregular breathing during a sleep cycle). Still, it wasn’t nearly enough to minimize the forensic and circumstantial evidence stacking up against Ates.

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Wiretap Woes: The call that changed everything

Dateline delves deep into the crucial most moment that disentangled Ates’ alibi—that came in the form of a wiretapped phone call.

Just days after the murder, Ates talked to his sister in Louisiana, fanatically trying to perfectly nail down the timeline of him getting back home.

The call, wiretapped by New Jersey authorities, didn’t necessitate the need for a warrant because of how the law in the state works. Lesnevich says while he questioned the law and its constitutionality;

“We are arguing for a higher standard…”

But the court wasn’t quite swayed just yet. Ates’ sister later confirmed that Ates had asked her to cook up a lie. So much for a hard-rock-solid alibi—Dateline confirms this piece of information is what shattered the case like glass.

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Climbing stairs, firing shots, and forensics that told the truth

How about we picture this: Duncsak on a random day walks into his Ramsey, New Jersey home. A shooter waits coldly somewhere in the corner. A gunshot was fired upward—straight into Duncsak’s leg—then there are four stairs that are climbed, and five more bullets are shot with absolute precision.

Now the defense here stated that Ates was simply too out of breath to make those shots or climb those stairs.

But prosecutors then recapped the jury that Ates had military experience and had only just in recent times shot a snake—pretty perfectly.

As Lesnevich himself acknowledged on Good Morning America,

“He could go up four steps, but could he then maintain the pistol straight and not miss? That’s a tough shot.”

Well, apparently, not that tough enough according to the prosecutors.

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Digital breadcrumbs and a not-so-perfect plan

Well, not that you have to but if someone does ever think of committing the “perfect murder,” maybe they should not Google it first.

The clues leading up to Ates’ prison sentence were that investigators found unfavorable searches on Ates’ pc: “how to pick locks, how to create silencers, and—yes— “how to commit the perfect murder.””

Dateline emphasizes this important oversight, the type of digital trail that betrays consideration. The murder weapon? A .22 calibre handgun, also Googled by Ates. That’s not just careless —it’s nearly cinematic in its thoughtlessness.

Except this wasn’t fiction or based on a book or a film. It was real. And someone did actually die.

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A custody war with deadly consequences

Dateline simply tries to lay down the motive that drove this perplexing act of violence: a venomous ‘custody battle’ between Duncsak and Ates’ daughter, Stacey.

Emotions were at an all-time high and so was Ates’ temper, according to the prosecutors.

They argued that Ates drove all the way from Florida, had a break into Duncsak’s million-dollar home, and simply waited. What followed after the waiting was not just accidental crime, but a well previously thought of calculated. Barbara Duncsak, Duncsak’s sister-in-law says;

"It doesn't bring him back, but at least he won't get away with it…"

The jury finally agreed, and rejected the emotional defense that drew Ates as a substantially broken man who was incompetent of any kind of violence. Ates was finally charged with first degree murder.

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Dateline doesn’t just re-evaluate these true crime cases and these murders; it empties out them until every single and tiny motive, blunder, and slipup is exposed out in the open to the general public.

In the case of Edward Ates, no amount of load could tip the balances of justice.

His story wasn’t a punchline—it was a deliberate plan. One that failed after all. And thanks to a determined investigation team and a sharp-eyed jury, Paul Duncsak’s close ones finally saw justice being served.

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