Court hears Henderson tapes

Henderson jury hears ’05 taped confessions:

Yesterday in the ongoing trial of Richard Henderson Jr. the court got to hear recordings of Henderson that took place shortly after his arrest. He claims that he loved his family.

“It wasn’t out of anger, I had problems, I can’t believe what I did,” the then-20-year-old Henderson said in a taped interview with the Herald on Dec. 1, 2005 – eight days after he allegedly murdered four members of his family in their Myakka City mobile home.

Henderson, during the phone call recorded from the Manatee County jail, told the newspaper the killings were not premeditated.

“It just happened,” Henderson said on the tape, in between periods of crying.

The guy is an attention whore pure and simple. He’s been feeding the media since his arrest. Not only that but just because it wasn’t premeditated you still killed your entire family. With any luck, Death Row is holding a room for you.

Henderson also confessed he loved his family, had struggled with drug use, including Xanax, and had been bipolar and depressed since he was 13.

“Me being in here for this is more pain than anyone can put me through,” Henderson said on the tape. “I don’t want people thinking I’m a homicidal killer.”

Jurors also heard Henderson’s voice in a taped face-to-face jail interview with the case’s lead detective, Darin Bankert. Henderson again confirmed his love for his family.

“How could someone love their family so much and kill them?” Henderson asked.

Bankert responded on the tape, “Again, that comes down to the legal definition of insanity.”

How about the legal definition of soulless bastard? And so what if he was depressed since he was 13. I’ve been depressed for longer than that and so have a lot of other people but as I keep saying we didn’t kill anybody let alone our entire families.

In other testimony, a state DNA expert testified that all four victims’ DNA was found on the pipe used to kill them. Also, a pawn shop owner testified that Henderson sold almost $400 worth of merchandise to her the day after the murders.