A man facing the death penalty laughed repeatedly during his trial in a Sacramento, California, courtroom on Tues. and claimed if given the opportunity, he would kill again.
“I wish I could have killed more of those motherf***ers,” Luis Bracamontes, 37, said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “I will break out soon, and I will kill more, kill whoever gets in front of me.”
Bracamontes is on trial for the Oct. 2014 murders of Placer sheriff’s Deputy Michael Davis Jr. and Sacramento sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver. The reported killings occurred after the suspect began a violent spree at a Motel 6 parking lot in Sacramento. He’s also accused of shooting a motorist passing by and wounding another deputy.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Danny Oliver and Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael David Davis Jr.
RIP pic.twitter.com/OePoE5RXGk— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 1, 2017
After the shootings, Bracamontes barricaded himself inside a home and turned on a gas stove, in an apparent attempt to commit suicide, according to court documents. He eventually crawled out of the house with a suicide note that asked God for forgiveness.
In the Sacramento Superior Court on Tues. morning, the suspect’s public defender, Jeffrey Barbour, said he didn’t claim that Bracamontes was innocent. He acknowledged the suspect admitted to the killings. Yet, Barbour said that Bracamontes was high on the meth at the time and lacked the reasoning to make sound judgements. The defense attorney also said the suspect is mentally ill and pushed for life in prison for Bracamontes instead of the death penalty.
“Let me be clear and up front,” Barbour said. “Mr. Bracamontes is responsible for the death of Deputy Danny Oliver and Detective Michael Davis. He shot him both. We are not contesting many of these charges.”
As Bracamontes continued to laugh and interrupt others during the court proceedings on Tues., his wife, Janelle Monroy, 41, who was with him during his violent crime spree, sat silently with her hands clasped together. According to court documents, the couple drove from their Salt Lake City, Utah, home to Sacramento, while smoking meth and marijuana along the way.
“There was no need to prove all this s***,” Bracamontes bragged. “There’s no need for a f****** trial….I don’t f***ing regret that s***. The only thing I f***ing regret is I only killed two.”
“If you’re asking for mercy that ain’t gonna (expletive) happen. More (expletive) cops are gonna be killed soon.” -Luis Bracamontes, day 2 of trial. (Pic from yesterday) @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/3QSCxCCUwo
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalil_Media) January 17, 2018
“You will not disrupt this trial, you will not speak out,” Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White replied after briefly excusing the jury. “If you do, you will be removed from the courtroom.”
White previously ruled that Bracamontes was mentally competent, but Barbour asked for the judge to reconsider his decision.
“We believe Mr. Bracamontes’ outbursts, his laughter, are a function of his mental illness,” Barbour said.
White denied Barbour’s request and said the trial would indeed continue.
“Your motion is denied. He is not incompetent to stand trial.”
As the prosecutor detailed the killings, the suspect continued to grin, even calling an officer who retreated during the exchange of gunfire in 2014 a “coward.”
Bracamontes, who has a long history of arrests and has been deported from Arizona twice, faces the death penalty if found guilty. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.
WARNING: Graphic content in video
[Feature Photo: Luis Bracamontes/Sac Bee video screenshot]
