Parkland school shooter’s admissions during mental health interviews could lead to death penalty decision, experts say

An admission by the Parkland, Fla., school shooter that he “studied mass murderers,” along with other grisly details he gave about carrying out the 2018 massacre, could convince jurors to vote for the death penalty, according to a former prosecutor.

Nikolas Cruz told mental health experts that he thought about opening fire at a school for a “very long time” before the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people, according to video interviews shown at his penalty trial last week.

“I studied mass murderers and how they did it, their plans, what they got and what they used,” Cruz said.

Cruz, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, said he started considering an attack about five years earlier, and that the idea “would come and go.”

He also described the day of the shooting, according to the interview footage.

“I walked through the gates. Hopefully, there would be no security guards, but I was wrong,” Cruz said. “I was looking at the guy and he was watching me.”

Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of murder and faces life in prison without parole as a minimum penalty. The 12 jurors would need to decide unanimously about at least one victim for Cruz to be given the death penalty.

The interviews took place separately with two mental health experts after Cruz claimed he suffered brain damage due to his mother drinking during her pregnancy.

Cruz’s admissions during those interviews could make it more likely that the jurors decide on a death sentence, former prosecutor David S. Weinstein said.

“All of this made Cruz himself perhaps one of the state’s best witnesses,” Weinstein told The Associated Press.

Law professor Bob Jarvis also believes the interviews could play a significant role in the jury’s decision.

“The question is: What will the jury take away from the interviews?” Jarvis, who teaches at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., told The AP. “Cold-blooded killer who was vengeful and excited about the murders, or a person so hopelessly deranged that he can’t be anything but crazy?”

The interviews with Dr. Charles Scott and Robert Denney involved Cruz describing the deaths of his first three victims in ghastly detail.

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“It was more like they passed out and blood came pouring out of their head. It was really nasty and sad to see,” Cruz said.

“I think I showed mercy to three girls. I was going to walk away, but they showed nasty faces and I went back,” Cruz said. “I thought they were going to attack me.”

He concluded his interview with Denney by saying he chose to conduct the shooting on Feb. 14 because he didn’t like Valentine’s Day.

“I thought no one would love me,” Cruz said. “I didn’t like Valentine’s Day and I wanted to ruin it for everyone.”

Cruz was a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The shooting is the deadliest ever at a U.S. high school.

Closing arguments for Cruz’s penalty trial are set to take place Tuesday, with deliberations expected to begin Wednesday.

With News Wire Services