ROSEBURG — An Oregon teenager who claimed he cut a man’s throat to put him out of his misery has been convicted of murder.

Charley Carnes, 19, said he wanted to end 27-year-old Kevin Omann’s suffering after another teenager hit Omann over the head with an ax two years ago.

Judge Joan Seitz told the courtroom this week she convicted Carnes on the theory that he served as an accomplice with Austin Clark. She noted that Carnes cleaned the knife with bleach, helped drag Omann’s body down a hill and disposed of the Canyonville man’s pickup.

Carnes had waived his right to a jury trial, leaving the verdict to Seitz. Clark, who was 16 at the time of the killing, is set to stand trial on murder charges in February.

Don and Kim Omann, the parents of the victim, clutched each other after the verdict.

“I’m just glad that justice is done,” Don Omann told the News-Review newspaper of Roseburg.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Deputy District Attorney Dave Hopkins reminded the judge that Carnes had led Kim Omann on a wild goose chase for her son after she reported him missing Sept. 11, 2007.

Her search for her son led to Carnes, reported to be the last person seen with Omann.

Instead of telling her the truth, Carnes drove with her around southern Douglas County, pretending to help look for a man he knew was dead.

“He was giving her false hope,” Hopkins said.

Authorities have not determined a motive for the murder.