A six-man, six-woman Kingfisher County jury deliberated just an hour and 12 minutes Wednesday before convicting a Kingfisher man of assault and battery with a deadly weapon in the October 2018 shooting of his brother-in-law.

Brian Beecher, 56, faces 20 years in prison if a presentencing investigation supports the jury’s recommended sentence at formal sentencing scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 16 before District Judge Paul Woodward in Kingfisher County District Court.

Beecher, who had been free on bail since May 2019, was taken into custody by the Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office after the verdict was pronounced.

He was convicted of firing a handgun three times into the cab of a skidsteer driven by his sister’s husband, Mitch Massey, then 48, striking him twice in the upper back and left bicep.

Massey was operating the skid steer with a brushhog attachment on family property on College Hill, northeast of Kingfisher, when the shooting occurred.

Witnesses for the state, who included Massey and his wife, Tamara, Beecher’s sister, as well as medical personnel and law enforcement investigators, testified they had an ongoing dispute over Beecher’s access to a barn on the Massey property, which the Masseys purchased from the Beecher family, according to the sheriff’s report.

Massey told deputies that he had changed the lock on the barn based on his belief that Beecher was removing items without his knowledge, but said he would let Beecher enter the barn at Beecher’s request.

Beecher drove to the property earlier on the day of the shooting but did not get out of his car. Both Masseys noticed him and checked their phones for texts or calls from Beecher to see if he was requesting access to the barn, but saw none.

Beecher left the property and then returned with a loaded 357 magnum, according to witness testimony. He advanced on the skidsteer with the loaded gun and fired three shots into the side window of the cab.

Beecher testified on his own behalf that he was acting in self-defense when he fired the shots because Massey was advancing on him with the brushhog blade raised, pinning him to a fence and he was left with no choice but to fire the weapon.

Assistant District Attorney John Salmon said Beecher’s description of events was not borne out by the evidence, which showed that he fired through the side window of the skidsteer’s cab, rather than through the front window as he would have if the machine was advancing toward him head on.

In his closing statement, Salmon said that Beecher had ignored a myriad of choices that would have avoided the shooting altogether, including the choice to contact a family member to get access to the barn without confronting Massey, the choice to not return to the property once he left the first time, the choice not to bring the loaded handgun and the choice not to fire it.

Massey testified that he did raise the brushhog blade of the skidsteer, but only after Beecher had fired the shots, in an effort to protect himself from further injury. Massey was mediflight

Massey was mediflighted to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City where he was admitted in stable condition with two gunshot wounds.

Beecher left the scene and was arrested about two hours later by sheriff’s deputies at the intersection of Shafenberg Road and Starlite Drive, with the unloaded gun in his car.

The jury trial was the first one conducted in King-fisher County District Court after a lengthy pandemic shutdown in the spring.

Extra precautions taken included selecting the jury at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building, where members of the prospective jury pool would have room to socially distance, spacing the selected jurors out in the jury box and chairs seated in front and allowing jurors to wear masks.

Witnesses also were allowed to wear masks, but not while testifying so that jurors could hear them as well as observe their facial expressions.

Beecher was represented by Norman attorney Michael Amend.

Victim Mitch Massey told the Kingfisher Times & Free Press after the verdict was announced that he and his wife were satisfied with the verdict.

“We are so thankful to live in this community,” he said. “The overwhelming support from friends, family and people we don’t even know has been a true blessing.

“The DA’s office, sheriff’s department, police department and fire department went to battle for me on that awful day and continued to fight for me for over two years.

“There have been many highs and lows throughout the process but we had to believe in the system and know that our faith would see us through.

“I am truly grateful to our heavenly Father that I am able to be here with my wife and daughters and that I’ll be able to experience the rest of my life with them.”

In addition to delays caused by the courthouse closure in the spring, the jury trial was continued from its original date in August when one of the