Two weeks after the dismembered remains of Herbert Tracy White were found in Room 66 of the Continental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Edward Garcia calmly told police investigators he could not remember the killing, but knew what he had done.
"I wish that it wasn't me in that room — but it was. I did that," Garcia said in a taped interview played for jurors Thursday.
As his recorded voice boomed through the courtroom, a photograph of a smiling White was beamed from a projector onto the wall. Garcia removed his black-rimmed glasses, rubbed his eyes and stared straight ahead.