8-Year-Old Confesses To Shooting Dad
Ariz. Boy Charged With Murder Gave Conflicting Stories, But Ultimately Confessed In Video, Police Say
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8-year-old's murder confession
New video released shows the apparent confession of an 8-year-old Arizona boy suspected in the murder of his father and another man. Bill Whitaker reports.
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This photograph taken Nov. 8, 2008, shows the house where Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, of San Carlos, Ariz were found fatally shot in St. Johns, Ariz. Police have charged Romero's 8-year-old son with the killings. (AP Photo/Dana Felthauser)
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The Arizona boy said that he did not fire the first shots at the men but later shot them so they wouldn't suffer.
The boy gives conflicting accounts of the shootings during an hourlong video of his interview with authorities in St. Johns, but the video ends with him admitting to pulling the trigger. He then buries his head in his jacket.
"I'm going to go to juvie," the boy says after an officer asks what he's thinking.
The roughly 12-minute video posted Monday night on Phoenix television station KTVK's Web site shows part of the questioning the boy underwent as authorities in the eastern Arizona community of St. Johns investigated the Nov. 5 killings. The station said it got the video from the prosecutor's office in Apache County, where the shootings occurred.
"There was blood all over his face, I think," the boy said in the video, referring to his father. "And I think I touched him."
Citing the boy's age and the sketchy circumstances surrounding the case, CBS News chief legal analyst Andrew Cohen said, this ranks as "one of the most egregious examples of pretrial publicity."
The boy has been charged in juvenile court with two counts of murder in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, and Timothy Romans, who rented a room there and was Romero's co-worker.
A defense attorney has said police overreached in their questioning of the boy, who was not represented by a family member or lawyer during the interview.
"I think they're going to have a problem getting that statement into court," defense attorney Benjamin Brewer said earlier this month before a judge issued a gag order in the case. "I believe there were many violations in regards to how it was obtained."
The gag order does not extend to the release of reports or recordings that would be considered public records in Arizona.
The shootings occurred Nov. 5 in an eastern Arizona community about 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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The gun belonged to the dad. No-one prevented the dad from walking around his own house armed.
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Posted by perk235
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You liberals say guns should be locked up. The dad probably couldnt access his other gun in time. Stinking liberals!!!
Posted by missy126 at 08:49 AM : Nov 19, 2008
So what should they do just let the kid go because he is 8 years old. If anything it seems like someone is coachiing him to lie to save himself, which is a crime in itself. First he said he shot them, then he said he came home and found them shot, then he said they were already shot but he shot them again so they did not suffer. Do you think an 8 year old is capable of changing his story as the evidence is presented to him?
If he did do it, which I believe he did, the reason needs to come out. If he was abused or something then I would say the kid needs help, not punishment. If he did it because his dad took away his video games or something like that he should never be allowed to be in society again, he is a danger to law abiding citizens.
I also agree with your point except that guns are specifically designed to kill people. What about hunters (and unfortunately they say this guy was)? They use guns to kill animals that feed people. As far as a lot homicides and suicides being gun-related, that might be so but taking away guns will not change the fact that if someone wants to kill themselves or someone else, they will always find a way.
I agree with the sentiment, that guns should be an unnecessary part of our society as you said, but the sad fact is they are a part of our society if they were not a part that cops would not need to carry a gun. You also said, "We also have police and laws to protect us." The problem is that in our society we are unable to have police everywhere they would need to be and if that was possible we would loose a lot of freedom in the trade off. You also said that "the father was truly reckless with the handling of his gun." This here is the real problem not the ownership of a gun, but the lack of safe handling of a weapon. If we do not protect the right of the people to own and bear arms we will not be far away from a fascist state much like Germany was right before WWII. This does not mean that everyone should or ought to own guns, but that you do have a right to do so if you can demonstrate you can safely handle a weapon.
Was wondering how long it would take before someone threw the race card into this. Color has nothing to do with life and death.
Agree that gun laws need to be tightened. I have guns in my home but they are secured. Also, agree that it is time for parents to be parents. Society shouldn''t be raising our children. If I would have even thought of doing something as a child, my mother would have knocked me into next week.
They are sooo leading this kid. This confession is so bogus.
If you are expecting any forensic evidence to match the supposition, you can forget it. This is an Barney Phife podunk police department who probably stood around the crime scene in muddy boots, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
They`re satisfied.
Ya THINK! Barney Phife strikes again. Hell, Barney was a genius compared to these yokels.
Posted by CBSNews53
That should read "Buy your guns now! Obama cometh!"
he is not going to protect you.
I would rather a good confession be thrown out than a bad confession be the centerpiece of a prosecution.
Almost every juvenile confession obtained under the circumstances of this one ARE BAD. Look on the internet start with the "Central Park Jogger" case. There the police obtained multiple confessions from youths who were later shown by DNA not to have been involved.
These cops and prosecutors should ALL be fired. Now, they are trying to slant the public.
A kid used a firearm to kill two people and you say this is NOT a firearm issue? Are you kidding? "LOL"
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Posted by truthrocks at 11:42 AM : Nov 19, 2008
He''s right. This has EVERYTHING to do with why did this boy kill his father? Why did he kill this other man? What was going on? 8 year olds do not go around killing their fathers or friends for nothing. Look at how many kids put up with all kinds of abuse without killing. What was the real "trigger"? That''s what''s important here. Not gun control.
[Posted by CBSNews53 at 11:00 AM : Nov 19, 2008]
since ''a gun'' was part of what happened ... how could removing the gun from the situation produce the ''exact same event''?
Well said. My husband also has a loaded gun in the headboard of the bed. He has never had to use it either but I sure do sleep better knowing both the gun and him are there to protect our family. And yes, I know how to use the gun too.
Posted by CBSNews53 at 12:46 PM : Nov 19, 2008
Yup,, we would have perfected the ray-gun by now.
But because we have real guns, we didn''t need to.
Much like the Electric car verses the gas guzzler..
Good for you. Couldn''t happen to two nicer guys, as far as I''m concerned.
Our founding fathers would be horrified at the state of society today.
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Posted by eyesonly208
So true if they saw who this country elected. you mean the same founding fathers that wronte the bill f rights to include gun ownership?
Now it''ll prolly come out he was mad at dad for taking away his video game or something petty like that.
I''d say life in prison with no parole would give him plenty of time to remember the two men he MURDERED in cold blood- put their bloody crime scene photos up on the wall, floor and ceiling in the form of wallpaper with repeating images in his cell so when he wakes up they are the first thing he sees and the last thing he sees when he goes to bed.
Posted by eyesonly208 at 01:43 PM : Nov 19, 2008
Yes they would, but not because of guns. But because of our leadership, and the people in general as well.
Society is filled with lazy apathetic people.
Who''d give up their rights as Americans for some security that may or may not exist.
Posted by truthrocks at 01:47 PM : Nov 19, 2008
Because we have over 100,000 car deaths each year, we need over 100,000 caskets each year.
How many nic names you got anyways?
Posted by truthrocks at 01:56 PM : Nov 19, 2008
Taking away guns won''t help.......
Posted by truthrocks at 01:55 PM : Nov 19, 2008
And your knowledge of history is equal as well.
Better brush-up....
How many nic names you got anyways?
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Posted by slim1h2o at 01:53 PM : Nov 19, 2008
or go the Mall with gas cans and set it on fire, killing hundreds
or drive your car 100mph on the way to the Mall, through a playground, and kill dozens of kids
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Posted by DaVicar1 at 01:59 PM : Nov 19, 2008
Cheers to you both... :)
Just out of curiosity....how do you prepose to get rid of all the guns?
truthrocks said: Yes, it will because homicide and suicide attempts with guns succeed 90% of the time and attempts without guns fail 90% of the time. A lot of people survive suicide and homicide attempts without guns but when they use guns they died. That means reducing or banning guns will result in a decline in homicides and suicides. That''''s a FACT!~
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Do the "homicide" statistics include self-defense? If so, then unfortunately, while the number of total homicides may or may not decline, the ENTIRE number would be confined to victims. My husband has thwarted a robbery in the past by just showing his gun. There''s no way to track how many homicides have NOT occurred due to the presence of a gun.
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Posted by truthrocks at 02:03 PM : Nov 19, 2008
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