David Conley allegedly shot the couple and the children one by one in the back of their heads on August 8 after years of disputes.
A father accused of shooting dead his ex-girlfriend, her husband and her six children says the kids were growing up to be "monsters."
David Conley, 49, gave jailhouse interviews four days after he was charged with capital murder in the killings of Valerie Jackson, 40, her husband Dwayne Jackson, 50, and the children, aged six to 13, at their home in Houston, Texas.
He allegedly shot the couple and the children one by one in the back of their heads on August 8 after years of disputes.
Speaking on Wednesday, Conley said the children were growing into “monsters."
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“They were disrespectful, rude in school,” he told KPRC. “I’m not saying they’re dead because of that. I’m not even saying I killed them."
Jackson, with whom he'd had a lengthy on-again-off-again relationship, was letting the children run wild “like they were gangsters," he said.
He added to the Houston Chronicle: "I understand how it looks, but it’s not like that. The Bible says ‘Thou shall respect your mother and father or your days shall be short. I’m not God, but you know, then, I’m the man of the house."
He told KHOU: "I'm only human."
Conley started dating Jackson in 1999. One of the children, 13-year-old Nathaniel, was believed to be Conley's son, although he says the paternity was never proven. They also had a daughter together, who has reportedly been in her grandmother's custody for years.
Before the killings, police had responded to reports of domestic violence against Valerie Jackson but Conley said they were "all lies."
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He said he recently moved out of the home but went back because he had nowhere else to go. After finding she had changed the locks on Saturday, he broke in, police said. Once inside, he allegedly murdered the family.
Later that evening, Conley spoke to Valerie Jackson's brother on the phone.
“‘I need to ask you a question,’” Conley said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “‘Did you kill my sister?’”
“He said, ‘Yes, I did.’ . . . There was totally no emotion in his voice," the brother, Earl Yanske, said.
Conley is due back in court on September 15.
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