PHOENIX - When serial killer suspects Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman go to trial next year for multiple murders, jurors likely will hear them brag about wanting to "kill 500," and how much they "loved shooting people in the back."
Defense lawyers had tried to throw out police surveillance recordings, saying they were inaudible and illegally obtained. But earlier this month a judge said he would allow the recordings, giving jurors a rare chance to hear Hausner and Dieteman discuss the shootings that terrorized the region for months.
Hausner's lawyer, Ken Everett, had argued that police didn't get Superior Court Judge James H. Keppel's approval for the bugs until after they were installed and the recordings made. But Judge Roland J. Steinle III refused to prohibit use of the tapes, saying he didn't have the authority to question an order by another trial judge.
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"It is a judicial policy of refusing to reopen questions previously decided in the same case by the same court," Steinle wrote on Oct. 12.
Steinle's approval likely will stand unless the state appeals court or the Arizona Supreme Court intervenes.
Everett didn't answer a call to his office by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Dieteman's lawyer, Maria Schaffer, declined to comment about the ruling.
Police secretly bugged Hausner and Dieteman's phone, car and apartment before their arrest on Aug. 3, 2006.
In one conversation listed in court documents, Dieteman tells Hausner that federal authorities in other states are looking for similar crimes and evidence in other states.
"Really, we're being copycatted, Sam?" Hausner said. "We're pioneers, Sam? We're leading the way for a better life for everyone, Sam?"
Dieteman said, "They're searching other states."
Hausner said, "It feels good, doesn't it?"
After taking them into custody, investigators found guns and ammunition in their Mesa apartment. They also found newspaper clippings about the serial killer investigation and maps showing locations of previous shootings.
Prosecutors believe Hausner, 34, and Dieteman, 32, roamed Phoenix-area neighborhoods for months in a Toyota Camry, blasting at random out of the car doors. Seven people were killed and 17 wounded in the attacks, along with several horses and dogs.
Dieteman faces two murder counts and numerous counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. Hausner faces seven murder counts and other criminal counts. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said he would pursue the death penalty for both men.
A trial is tentatively scheduled for April 8. Steinle hasn't yet decided whether to hold separate trials for each of the more than 30 shooting cases Hausner is charged with.
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