A judge in Texas has released a teenage murder suspect's confession, in which he says the 2007 film "Halloween," by heavy metal musician and film director Rob Zombie, inspired him in the slaying of his mother and sister.
"While watching it I was amazed at how at ease the boy was during the murders and how little remorse he had afterword [sic]. I was thinking to myself it would be the same for me when I kill someone," 17-year-old Jake Evans wrote in his confession, according to a copy released on Thursday by Parker County Judge Graham Quisenberry.
According to police, Evans killed his 48-year-old mother, Jamie Evans, and his 15-year-old sister, Mallory, inside their upscale Aledo home Oct. 3, 2012. In a four-page written confession police said that Evans wrote hours after his arrest, he said he watched "Halloween" three times that week.
The 2007 film, which is both a prequel and remake of John Carpenter's 1978 film of the same name, highlights the early years of fictional serial killer Michael Myers. In the film, a 10-year-old Myers murders several people, including his older sister, his sister's boyfriend and his mother's boyfriend.
"After I watched the movie I put it back in the case and threw it in the trashcan so that people wouldn't think that it influenced me in any way," Evans wrote, according to police.
READ THE CONFESSION: (Story Continues Below)
The written confession says the teenager spent the earlier part of Oct. 3, 2012 watching the film, playing golf, and contemplating the murder of his mother, grandparents and three sisters.
"My plan was to kill my sister and my mom at my house and then go over to my grandparents and kill my oldest sister, Emily, and my two grandparents. Then I was going to wait until morning and kill my other sister, Audrey, because she was visiting from college," the confession says.
The initial plan, it says, was for Evans to use a folding-knife that belonged to his father. He imagined killing his sister and "causing her pain," but, the confession says, after further consideration he decided he did not want them to "feel anything" so he used a .22 revolver he had stolen from his grandfather.
"I set [the pistol] on the bed and was nervously opening the cylinder over and over again," the confession reads. "I then spent probably over and [sic] hour walking nervously around the house thinking how life will never be the same and how I would never see them again."
It was about 11:15 p.m. when Evans says he finally came up with the courage to kill, police said.
"I knocked on [my sister's] door and told Mallory that mom needed her. She came out and out of the corner of her eye saw me pointing the gun at her. She thought I was joking and told me that I was freaking her out. I shot her in the back and then in the head. I ran down to the study and shot my mom three times," the confession reads.
The confession says he ran into his room after the shootings and screamed at the top of his lungs. Afterward, he began to empty the gun when he heard noises and realized his sister was not dead; he yelled out he was sorry then shot her again. Police said he then went back to his mother's body and fired another shot into her head.
"Very shocked and scared, I placed the gun on the kitchen counter and walked into the living room to dial 911," the confession reads.
The 911 call was previously released by police.
"It just kind of happened," Evans told the 911 operator, according to police. "I've been kind of, uh, planning on killing for a while now … I guess this is really selfish to say but, to me, I felt like they were just suffocating me in a way … Obviously, I am pretty, I guess, evil."
Evans has been charged with one count of capital murder and two counts of murder.
Quisenberry ordered during a Wednesday hearing that the confession should not be sealed and entered it into evidence. The confession was released to the public Thursday. The judge on Wednesday also denied a request by Evans' attorney to have the capital murder charge dropped against him. Quisenberry did, however, OK a request for bond, which he set at $750,000.
During the hearing, Evans' father, who was out of town on business at the time of the murders, told the judge he would not bond his son out of jail.
A trial date has not yet been set.
His confession appears to outline a possible motive in the slayings.
"When I look at people, especially teenagers, I see them as being very cruel to one another emotionally," the confession reads. "It seems that their favorite hobby is picking on someone else. The people who are racists, bullies, and who are full of themselves are the really evil ones and it amazes me because those three qualities are extremely common today. I was very sad because I felt like my own family were becoming the people I hate."
It continues, "I know now that I'm done with killing. It's the most dreadful and terrifying thing I will ever experience and … will haunt me forever."
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