The former employee accused of killing three men and injuring two at a Penske truck rental facility a year ago told police that the company stole $500 million he earned from a "top secret" project in the Marines.
Jesse James Warren's bizarre claim -- captured on video during a rambling post-arrest interview with a detective and played in public for the first time in Cobb County Superior Court on Thursday -- gave the public its first glimpse of Warren's mindset after the shooting.
Warren, 61, said he made the money working on a secret project as a Marines supply clerk. He claimed Penske found out, took the money, and fired him in July 2009, according to the video played during a pretrial motions hearing Thursday in Cobb County.
"It's my money, it's my money and it was my money anyways," Warren said. "I'm going to get my money. And it caused a big uproar."
Warren said he tried unsuccessfully to file for unemployment twice. Losing the money and his job caused problems for him and his wife, Virginia. he said. When asked about the shooting, Warren, a former Penske mechanic, said only that he parked his truck in front of the Kennesaw facility around 2 p.m. He refused to answer more questions.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Warren. The next motions hearing is Feb. 17, Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans said on Friday.
Killed in the Jan. 12, 2010, shooting were customer Jaider Felipe Marulanda, 43, of Lawrenceville; and Penske employees Robert Gonzalez, 31, of Dallas, Ga., and Vance Springer, 59, of Woodstock. Two other employees, Joshua Holbrook, 28, and Zach Werner, 36, were critically injured.