Last Words From the Murder Trial of David Del Toro

Here is a selection of excerpted quotes from the month-long trial of former LAFD Capt. David Del Toro, who was convicted this morning of the second-degree murder of Jennifer Flores:

• “For a fact I don't remember killing her. I don't believe I killed her ... I just didn't kill her. I don't know how I'd know—but I didn’t kill her.”
  — David Del Toro during his two-day testimony toward the end of the trial, denying he killed Jennifer Flores.

•  “I was confused, I was exhausted, I was certainly drunk.”
  — David Del Toro to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace during his roughly 90-minute cross-examination during the trial, which lasted for the entire month of February 2011.

• “It never occurred to you that as a fireman—a captain—you more than anybody else would know that there’s all this blood in your house and you didn’t call the police?”
  —Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace to Del Toro during his cross-examination that left the veteran firefighter visibly nervous but seldom at a loss of words.

•  “I remember making a mess. I thought it was in the living room. I remember the blue bucket that was in the sink. I was so tired and exhausted—that’s all. … I went right back to bed.”
  — David Del Toro to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace.

•  “As the night went on, she wanted to use my car, wanted me to take her somewhere. I said, no, I’m not going anywhere and I’m certainly not going to let you use my truck. Maybe I was a little rough with her in the way I said it. And being Jennifer, she said some disparaging remarks. … I said, why are you talking to me that way—you’re in my house.”
  — David Del Toro to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace, referring to his conversation with Jennifer Flores on the night she was killed.

• “Friendly. Hi and bye—that’s pretty much it.”
  — David Del Toro, describing his relationship with Jennifer Flores in response to a question from Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace.

•  “There was a note on the car and then I called her. She really wanted to stay. I said I don’t know you—even though she has been to my house several times. It was the hottest day of the year. She was homeless and basically spiraling down. I felt bad. She gave me her phone number. I called her back—we were playing phone tag. We made arrangements [for her] to come by, mainly to wash [her] clothes. She was kind of down and out and really had no place to go.”
  — David Del Toro to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace, referring to the events of the night of Aug. 15-16, 2006, when Jennifer Flores was murdered.

•  “I’m just going to get drunk today—I wanted to go to sleep. If I can describe this, it’s like being jet-lagged and your best-made plans to awry sometimes.”
  — David Del Toro to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace, in response to the prosecutor’s question as to why the firefighter “didn’t just go to sleep” when he felt so exhausted on the night of Aug. 15, 2006.

• “How do I know I’m a genius when I’ve never taken a test?”
  — David Del Toro’s quip to Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace when asked how he could be certain he didn’t murder Jennifer Flores when he self-admittedly was too drunk and confused to remember precisely why he tried to clean up a bloody mess in his living room instead of calling the police.

• “Mr. Del Toro, you’re just making all this up as you go along, aren’t you?”
  — Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace asks David Del Toro at the end of the second day of his Feb. 24 cross-examination of the defendant. (Del Toro twice replies that he’s not making anything up.)

•  “You’re confident—and you’re going to stick with the story that you didn’t kill Jennifer Flores?”
  — Deputy District Attorney Robert Grace’s last words to David Del Toro during his cross-examination of the defendant. (“Yes,” replied Del Toro.)