California Murder Suspect Confesses in Court: "I Killed Them Cops"

Accused cop-killer Luis Enriquez Monroy Bracamontes bounced into a Sacramento, Calif., courtroom Wednesday and appeared almost jocular as he smiled at the media and greeted them with a “How you guys doing?”

Clearly animated, Bracamontes took his seat at the defense table for what was supposed to be a brief and routine case status conference. But when it was over, Bracamontes stripped all pretense of the ordinary away from the proceeding when he blurted out in court that he killed Sacramento County Sheriff’s Dep. Danny Oliver and Placer County Sheriff's Dep. Michael Davis Jr. and that he is ready to be put to death.

“I killed them cops,” Bracamontes said, as Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White stepped down from the bench. “I did it … I’m guilty … I want a date of execution.”

Assistant Public Defenders Norman Dawson and Jeff Barbour tried to hush their client, but Bracamontes insisted on making his point within earshot of an estimated 25 to 30 people who remained in the courtroom in the moments after the official portion of the hearing concluded, The Sacramento Bee  reports.

Bracamontes, 34, faces the death penalty in the fatal Oct. 24 shootings of Oliver, 47, behind a since-leveled Motel 6 on Arden Way, and Davis, 42, on the side of Riverview Drive in Auburn. Bracamontes’ wife and co-defendant Janelle Monroy, 38, also is accused of murder. She also attended Wednesday’s hearing but remained silent.

If it seems that Bracamontes’ remarks made it easier for prosecutors to obtain a conviction, defense attorneys offered a reminder that in the elongated world of complicated murder proceedings, this case is still just beginning. A legal expert also said the remarks turned everyone in the courtroom into potential witnesses and also may have strengthened the expected defense effort to have the case moved out of Sacramento.

Sacramento County Chief Assistant Deputy District Attorney Rod Norgaard and Placer County Deputy District Attorney David Tellman, the co-prosecutor, did not comment on Bracamontes’ outburst.

The prosecutors, however, walked out of the courtroom knowing their case had been bolstered with about two dozen more witnesses who heard all or part of an accused killer’s statement that he committed the crime.