Gillis' Attorney Says Defense Will be a Challenge
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Baton's Rouge's second suspected serial killer was once again talking with detectives today... without his court appointed attorney. Sean Gillis has already confessed to murdering eight women, and more confessions could possibly be on the way.
Gillis' attorney, Bert Garraway, met with Gillis this morning for about 20 minutes at the Sheriff's office. Garraway says Gillis specifically asked him not to do any on-camera interviews in regards to this case. Garraway says his client seemed very intelligent, articulate and remorseful, but Garraway says defending this newest serial killer suspect will be an enormous challenge.
According to his court appointed attorney, Gillis has a lot to say to police. We're told detectives questioned Gillis Saturday morning, despite Bert Garraway's request for police not to ask Gillis any questions without him being there. Garraway tells 9 News he pleaded with Gillis not to talk, but says Gillis insisted on talking to police anyway.
Last night our cameras caught the first glimpse of Baton Rouge's second suspected serial killer. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, handcuffed, shackled and escorted by numerous police officers. The beard and glasses we saw in the still pictures of Gillis were both gone.
At a news conference Friday, Gillis was linked to the Hardee Schimdt and Ann Bryant murders. He's now been charged with five murders officially, and sources inside law enforcement say he's confessed to three more. Police say a confession was all they needed to connect Gillis with these previously unsolved cases. "A confession is actual evidence and many people are in the penitentiary now and rightly so on the basis of chiefly a confession," said Lieutenent Colonel Greg Phares.
G arraway says these confessions make defending Gillis extremely difficult. But he points out while confessions are strong evidence, he says there's numberous cases where people confess to crimes they haven't committed. He also says this case will be tough on the public defender's office-- an office already cash-strapped from defending another serial killer suspect, Derrick Todd Lee.
Garraway says he plans to ask the District Court on Monday to appoint a Sanity Commission to see if Gillis is mentally competent to answer questions and stand trial.
WAFB's Matt Clough spoke with Gillis' father, Norman Gillis, who lives in California. Norman Gillis says he left his son when Gillis was just one year old. He says he last had contact with him when Gillis graduated from Redemptorist High School in 1980. Gillis' father says he's shocked that his son has been arrested for these murders. "I was just very sad," he said. "I was surprised. I don't know what I said. I was just surprised."
Norman Gillis says he doesn't plan on calling or visiting with his son now that he's been arrested. He said, "I don't see how I can help him."