Prosecution: Dad brutally murdered 2-year-old son (Birmingham, Alabama)

We've posted on this case before. Here's one link:

http://dastardlydads.blogspot.com/2010/07/dad-of-murdered-baby-now-fights-murder.html

All the media coverage I've seen thus far has been pretty cagey about this father's formal custodial status. But what I've seen seems to indicate that this father had "possession" (at minimum) and was not interested in "sharing"  with the mother or anybody else. Note that last year, Dad JONATHAN KATAN was not willing to let the grandparents have access to this boy's body so they could do the funeral. Sounds like an abuser/control freak to me....

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110727/NEWS01/107270335/Prosecution-contends-father-brutally-murdered-2-year-old-son?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs

Prosecution contends father brutally murdered 2-year-old son
12:24 AM, Jul. 27, 2011
Written by Scott Johnson

Jurors viewed unsettling crime scene photos Tuesday at the start of the capital murder trial of a Montgomery man accused of killing his young son.

Prosecutors contend that Jonathan Katan, 26, brutally murdered his son either the morning of Feb. 16, 2010, or the night before.

Defense attorneys asserted that while the death of 2-year-old Preston Katan was tragic, the child's father was not responsible.

Jurors heard opening statements and the testimony of two state witnesses Tuesday.

Katan called 911 about 10:30 a.m. Feb. 16 and told a dispatcher that his son was dead.

Police said Katan told them that he found the boy wedged between a bumper guard and the mattress of the boy's bed. Officers arrested Katan the next day, and a grand jury indicted him Dec. 3.

Jurors saw photos Tuesday of the boy's body as a Montgomery Police Department crime scene investigator testified he found it after being called to the house on Oak Side Drive.

One photo showed blood around the boy's nose and mouth. Another showed blood on the box spring mattress of the boy's bed.

A Montgomery Fire Department medic testified that the boy was clearly dead when he and other medics arrived. The body was cold to the touch, and rigor mortis had started to set in, the fire medic testified.

An Alabama Department of Forensic Science autopsy concluded that the boy had suffered multiple blunt force injuries to the head, prosecutors said.

"We know from medical evidence that this was an intentional, brutal assault," Deputy District Attorney Kevin Davidson told jurors in his opening statement.

Defense Attorney Jon Taylor questioned the medical evidence, saying that jurors could acquit Katan even if they relied on that evidence alone to make their decision.

Taylor also questioned the suggestion that an insurance policy on Preston Katan could serve as a motive.

Jonathan Katan's ex-girlfriend also benefited from the policy, and she and Katan had recently broken up and were at odds with each other, Taylor said.

The district attorney's office is seeking a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Testimony will continue today in Montgomery County Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey's courtroom.