Private school teen 'hired gang member friends to help beat and kill his father before emptying his bank account and going on a two-day shopping spree'

• Matthew Nellessen 'swung that bat as hard as he could at his father’s head a number of times'
• Nellessen 'recruited a gang member he met in jail to help him rob father'
• Gang member Marlon Green then recruited two friends for robbery
• The group of thugs tied George Nellessen to a chair and 'forced him to deposit $100,000 into his son's bank account'
• Green is expected to testify against Nellessen in the murder trial 

The murder trial is underway of a private school student who allegedly beat his father to death with a baseball bat before using money he robbed from him to go on a two-day shopping spree.

Matthew Nellessen, who was 19 at the time, is accused of recruiting three known Chicago gang-bangers to help him rob his father George Nellessen of his life savings on April 12, 2011.

After tying the elder Nellessen to a chair, authorities say Matthew Nellessen put duct tape over his eyes and 'swung that bat as hard as he could at his father’s head a number of times'.

Brutal attack: Matthew Nellessen, left, had been out of jail for less than a month before he allegedly beat his father George, right, to death with a baseball bat

Authorities say Nellessen recruited Marlon Green (center) to help rob his father. Green then recruited Azari Braden (left) and Braden's brother Armon (right)

After beating him with the bat, authorities say Nellessen then stabbed his father in the throat, cutting his own hand in the process.

Prosecutors said on Wednesday that Nellessen, who had recently been released from jail, had planned to rob his 55-year-old father, whom he believed owed him money.

Prosecutors allege that Nellessen recruited gang member Marlon Green - whom he met while serving time in Cook County Jail after violating his probation following a conviction for burglary. 

Green, authorities claim, then recruited two brothers - Armon and Azari Braden - to help carry out the robbery.

In exchange for their help, Nellessen promised to split the proceeds of the robbery with his alleged accomplices.

On the day of the murder, authorities say Green and the Braden brothers drove to Nellessen's comfortable suburban home armed with a BB gun that resembled an actual pistol. 

Green and Armon Braden entered the house with Nellessen as Azari Braden waited in a getaway car. 

Authorities claim the three men were looking for financial information they could use to drain George Nellessen's bank account. 

'Matt (Nellessen) was happy they brought the BB gun,' Cook County Assistant State's Attorney MariaMcCarthy told jurors, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. 'It would make things easier.'</</body>