Son convicted in 2002 slaying of mother

? A man accused of killing his mother and dumping her body in a strip mine pit nearly four years ago has been convicted of first-degree murder.

Jurors who heard the case in Crawford County District Court deliberated less than four hours Thursday before reaching the verdict against Paul C. Hunt, 36. Hunt, who will be sentenced May 3, faces between 25 years and life in prison for the death of Mary “Sue” Taylor, 52, of Fort Scott.

Swimmers found her body floating in the mine pit north of Arcadia on June 29, 2002, six days after she was reported missing. The body was in a sleeping bag and wrapped securely inside a tarp. Erik Mitchell, a forensic pathologist who did the autopsy, testified that Taylor had been strangled.

Hunt lived with his mother at the time she disappeared. He was arrested last March in Kennett Square, Pa., where he had been living.

In his closing argument, Assistant Atty. Gen. Stephen Maxwell pointed to testimony that Hunt and his mother fought over bills, that he called her names and that he had filed for credit cards under her name without her knowledge.