The man accused of opening fire at a Penske truck rental a year ago, killing three, gave a rambling interview to police shortly after the shooting in which he claimed Penske had stolen $500 million he had earned from a "top secret" project in the Marines, the Marietta Daily Journal reports.
Jesse James Warren, 61, of Temple made the bizarre claim in a videotaped interview with a detective. Warren said he had worked on a "top secret" project as a Marines supply clerk that earned him the money, and that Penske found out, took the money, and fired him in July 2009, according to the report.
"The money caused a big uproar, whose money it was," Warren said in the interview, played during a Thursday hearing in Cobb County Superior Court. "It's my money, it's my money and it was my money anyways. I'm going to get my money. And it caused a big uproar."
Warren said he tried unsuccessfully to file for unemployment twice, and that losing the money and his job caused a lot of problems for him and his wife, Virginia, according to the report.
But when Warren was asked about the events of Jan. 12, 2010, the former mechanic said only that he parked his truck in the facility's front lot around 2 p.m.
"I don't really want to answer any more questions," Warren said, according to the report.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Warren. He is accused of killing customer Jaider Felipe Marulanda, 43 of Lawrenceville; 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 but survived.
The case could go to trial later this year.
Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans said after the hearing that he did not know whether Warren had been given a psychiatric evaluation, or if the defense planned to request one, according to the report.
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