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Authorities testified on Tuesday that about 30 pages of hate letters and sketches filled with satanic symbolism, including the number “666” in blood, were found in the cell of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz on May 8.
Jean Marque-Puche, a deputy at the Broward County Jail, testified in Ft. Lauderdale court that Cruz had multiple dark drawings in his cell relating to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on February 14, 2018, in which he killed 17 and injured 17 others.
The gruesome drawing showed a stick figure in a classroom shooting another labeled “teacher” and students, Marque-Puche explained to the 12-member jury.
In the letters, it was discovered that the shooter wrote an anonymous person ‘sexually humiliated’ [him] on f****ng Instagram’ which is the ‘main reason why’ [he] shot Stoneman Douglas,” he said The Palm Beach Post.
Marque-Puche was asked to read one of Cruz’s many letters begging his family to forgive him for his heinous acts and he would like to “die a slow and painful death.”
Cruz also admitted to writing 666 in his blood on the wall and requesting to be buried with a woman, whom the jurors said had not been identified, Marque-Puche said.
The jury will decide later this year whether Cruz will receive the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Prison officials discovered about 30 pages of letters and sketches in Nikolas Cruz’s cell revealing hateful symbols, including the drawings related to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre on Feb. 14, 2018. Pictured: Cruz in court on Sept. 27.
Cruz also admitted to writing 666 on the wall with his blood and requesting to be buried with a woman, who had not been identified by the jurors. Pictured: Cruz with his legal team on September 27
Sergeant Gloria Crespo showed jurors on Tuesday the weapon Cruz used in the swastika massacre
The Nazi symbol was drawn on Cruz’s magazines and on one of his boots
A letter from Cruz to his family was also read to the jury. In the letter, Cruz asked his family to forgive him and die a slow death
Sergeant Gloria Crespo also showed the jury swastikas that Cruz drew on a rifle magazine found in the AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle he used in the massacre.
The Nazi symbol was also drawn on one of his boots.
Detective Nick Masters, an online detective, then testified about racist and sexist searches and comments Cruz made from about eight months before the shooting.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer allowed prosecutors to present only a fraction of the searches and comments Cruz made, saying more would be excessively damaging.
There is no dispute that Cruz specifically targeted girls or minorities. Eight of his victims were girls and four were racial minorities.
The judges were told that Cruz was looking for ways to buy a Nazi flag, information about Adolf Hitler’s birthday, and a swastika tattoo. He wrote ‘the Nazi party will rise again.’
He made searches and comments using a racist slur aimed at black people. He wrote that he beat his widowed mother and called her a slur against women. He wrote that “women are less important than a dog.”
Masters showed several graphic searches that Cruz made for child porn. He also made comments praising animal cruelty, saying he killed 12 cats, and writing, “I’m happy when animals die. It makes me happy.’
Detective Nick Masters testified about racist and sexist searches and comments Cruz made about eight months before the shooting
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer allowed prosecutors to present only a fraction of Cruz’s searches and comments
Cruz watched the victims’ families in court on Tuesday
Lynda Cruz, pictured here with baby Nikolas, adopted him after suffering several miscarriages
Masters showed several graphic searches that Cruz made for child porn. He also made comments praising animal cruelty, saying he killed 12 cats, and writing, “I’m happy when animals die. It makes me happy.’
During their case, Cruz’s lawyers attempted to show how his late biological mother’s alcohol abuse during pregnancy set Cruz on a lifelong path of erratic, bizarre and often violent behavior that culminated in the shootings.
They also tried to show that his adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, became overwhelmed after her husband died when Cruz was 5. She died less than three months before the shooting.