Ehab Qasem said he paused briefly while holding a metal baseball bat in the darkened hallway outside the bedroom of rural Palos Park residents John Granat Sr. and his wife, Maria Granat.

Christopher Wyma, who was standing next to Qasem in the early morning hours of Sept. 11, 2011, and who also was holding a metal baseball bat, sensed the hesitation and started slapping him on the back of the neck, according to Qasem's testimony Tuesday inside a Bridgeview courtroom.

“Are you ready to live like kings?” Qasem recalled Wyma asking him in that darkness.

Moments later, Wyma and Qasem were allegedly brutally beating the affluent couple as they slept in their bed, according to Qasem's testimony.

Qasem, now 25, is a key state's witness against Wyma and the couple's child, John Granat Jr., in their first-degree murder trials.

According to prosecutors and his own testimony, Qasem, of Hickory Hills, is testifying against the two defendants as part of a plea deal. He agreed to plead guilty to one charge of murder in the death of John Granat Sr. in exchange for a 40-year sentence in state prison. Prosecutors will drop dozens of other charges, including murder charges in Maria Granat's death, as part of the agreement.

The deal is contingent on Qasem's truthful testimony in court, according to prosecutors and his own testimony.

Defense attorneys for Wyma, of Bridgeview, and John Granat Jr., both 22, fired questions at Qasem about prior testimony in front of a grand jury and about what he told police in September and October 2011. Qasem admitted to lying to authorities, making up a story that pinned the execution of the murders on John Granat Jr. Qasem initially told authorities five years ago that Granat only asked them to “finish off” his parents, according to his testimony.

Prosecutors allege John Granat Jr., then 17 years old, groomed his friends, showered them with cash gifts and promised more money after his parents were dead. He had become enraged with his parents after they discovered he was growing marijuana plants in his room and grounded him, prosecutors allege.

While Wyma and Qasem were upstairs, John Granat Jr. remained in the family garage and quietly counted stacks of cash the family kept in the house, money he would use to pay off his friends, prosecutors allege.

Qasem, who was 19 years old at the time of the murders, started crying Tuesday as prosecutors showed him crime scene photos of the Granats' bodies.

Maria Granat never made it out of bed. Qasem admitted to stabbing her with a knife that Granat Jr. gave him, according to his testimony. He also admitted to repeatedly hitting Granat Sr. with a bat, even after the man managed to get out of bed.

Qasem testified that Granat Jr. paid him $400 to clean two apartments owned by his father in May 2011, and gave him $2,300 cash hidden in an empty packet of gum during a shopping trip in August 2011. He said Granat Jr. regularly paid his good friend Wyma an “allowance” around the same time.

Granat Jr. also bought more than $2,000 worth of clothes for Qasem, Wyma and a fourth accomplice, Mohammed Salahat, during that shopping trip, according to Qasem's testimony.

Salahat, 22, of Palos Heights, pleaded guilty last year to murder and was sentenced to 35 years in state prison, according to court records. Prosecutors said he served as the driver for the crew.

“You know, if my parents were dead, everything would be in my name,” Qasem testified Granat Jr. told him during the shopping trip.

Wyma said he “felt like a king” while John Granat Jr. paid for clothing and shoes for the four of them with $100 bills, while giving them the change “because he does not like change,” according to Qasem's testimony.

The trials are expected to continue Wednesday.

Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.