Grant pleaded guilty to the crime Monday in 52nd State District Court, admitting he had a role in the stabbing death of Michael Grant in September 2007.

The emotion he showed in the courtroom Wednesday was not remorse or sadness for his father’s death - several people testified they heard Grant say after his father died that he still hated him and was glad he is gone.

Grant’s emotion was more detached and appeared selfish.

He also appeared to have trouble containing his anger and was visibly frustrated several times during the hearing. The most pronounced incident came during testimony from a psychologist who has worked with him on and off since he was 4 years old.

Janet Luedeker, who practices in Waco, said Grant at age 10 was drawing graphic pictures depicting death by slashing. She described him as hostile, sadistic and delusional - a boy from a family with very disturbed relationships.

“As long as I knew him, Jamie was a tormented child,” she said. “I was alarmed at the seriousness of his disturbance.”

Grant’s anger toward his father seemed to intensify after Michael Grant was awarded custody of his children after acrimonious divorce proceedings between his parents.

“He felt like the father had used money to influence the judge’s decision (in the divorce case),” said Dr. Frank Pugliese, a psychologist who tried to help Grant adjust after the divorce.

It was a jury’s decision that led to Jamie being placed in his father’s home, according to testimony on Wednesday.

Pugliese said there were a number of things that troubled him about Grant during the time he counseled him. He said in the spring of 2005 Grant dyed his hair black and began wearing all black, baggy clothing.

“People like that try to bring attention to themselves by doing things that are out of the ordinary,” Pugliese said. “He told me he believed that God was basically the same as Satan.”

Three months before the murder Grant told Robert Henderson, a friend from school, that he was about to commit his first murder and solicited his help. Ten days before the murder, Grant asked Henderson if he would help clean up after he stabbed his father and dumped the body.

As it turned out Grant was not his father’s killer, but he played a complicit role in the stabbing. He used his cell phone to arrange it, watched it unfold and then helped dump the body in a bar ditch in the neighborhood.

Investigators began suspecting Grant was involved in the killing almost as soon as they knocked on the door to notify him of his father’s death. They described him as detached and unmoved by the news.

In an interview that day with a Texas Ranger, Grant was belligerent and shouted.

But investigators didn’t have a clear picture of what happened until six weeks later when John Hopkins was arrested after he attempted suicide.

Hopkins - an ex convict from New Jersey who was living with Grant’s mother, Megan Lewis - wrote a suicide note that said he wanted to kill himself in front of Grant and his mother because he was guilt ridden for killing Michael Grant.

Hopkins said he killed him because of his love for Ms. Lewis.

Investigators described two crime scenes. The first one was discovered in the early morning hours on Greenbriar Road, just outside of Gatesville off U.S. Highway 84. Michael Grant’s bloody body was found in a bar ditch with a comforter around him that had been secured with yellow nylon rope and coaxial cable.

Law officials attempting to notify the family about Michael Grant’s death noticed the garage door to his house was open and then spotted blood on the garage floor. The house turned out to be the primary crime scene.

Grant and his 10-year-old sister were the only ones home. Law officials searched the home and found that Michael Grant’s mattress had been stripped of the bedding and had blood stains on it. The room had been ransacked with all the drawers pulled out and clothing strewn about.

Investigators said there were several puddles of blood beneath the clothing.

The bedding was found in the garage half in the washing machine.

The comforter had puncture wounds in it, which an investigator said was evidence Michael Grant had been stabbed while he slept.

Grant’s grandfather, Garnett Grant, testified about the troubles of his grandson and how Michael Grant never gave up on his son.

“I had worried about my grandson for years,” he said. “There would be episodes of civility but he usually found a way to screw that up. Our whole family worried about him. Mike said, ‘Dad, don’t worry, when he gets grown, he will love his daddy.’”

On Monday, Jamie Grant accepted a plea agreement. In exchange for pleading guilty to murder, he agreed to have his sentence capped at 50 years. The punishment hearing will continue today at 9 a.m.