A man convicted of murdering five people stunned the courtroom where a jury was seated Wednesday to decide whether he should be executed by announcing that the proceeding was unnecessary because he wished to die.
"There's no need," Justin Helzer, 32, blurted out as opening statements were about to begin in the death penalty phase of his trial. "I want this life to be over. ... I want to die."
Seated on either side of him, Helzer's lawyers attempted to calm their client, who had shown almost no reaction during weeks of incriminating and sometimes graphic testimony.
Judge Mary Ann O'Malley firmly instructed told Helzer to be quiet and continued speaking over him when he didn't immediately comply.
"I'm just being truthful. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude," Helzer continued. "I just want to be free. I want freedom or death."
Helzer's mother, Carma Helzer, burst into tears at her son's words. Some jurors also wept before the panel was hurried out of the courtroom.
"Mr. Helzer, I don't know what possessed you," O'Malley scolded him.
When the jury was reseated about 20 minutes later, O'Malley told jurors to disregard Helzer's words completely.
Helzer, 32, his older brother, Glenn, and their former roommate, Dawn Godman, killed five people, including the 22-year-old daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop during the summer of 2000 as part of a scheme they devised to prepare for Christ's return to Earth.
Before the same jury convicted him on five counts of capital murder last month, Justin Helzer had pleaded guilty by reason of insanity, maintaining his role in the multiple slayings was dictated by an older brother whom he considered to be a prophet of God. Jurors rejected his insanity plea last week, making Helzer eligible for the death penalty.
When Wednesday's hearing finally got underway with testimony from relatives of the five victims.
"Before trial, I cried every day. I'm fearful of being out in public alone," said Judy Nemec, whose parents, Ivan and Annette Stineman, were the first killed.
Helzer spent a night on suicide watch last month after he was found hoarding another jail inmate's psychiatric medication.
Outside court, prosecutor Harold Jewett declined to comment on the outburst, while defense lawyer Daniel Cook told the San Francisco Chronicle he wasn't sure what impact it would have on jurors.
Glenn Helzer entered a surprise guilty plea just before his joint trial with his brother began and still faces a death penalty hearing. Godman pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution under a plea bargain in which she received a prison sentence of 38 years to life.