VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Cola Beale says he now feels remorseful for the murders he committed after a jury found him guilty on all charges.
The admission comes nearly two years after he murdered Czavi'er Hill, his girlfriend, and Clifton Baxter, a man who practically raised him.
"It seems like when I blacked out a lot of things happened, but I can't change it now," said Beale.
Again, Beale did not deny killing both of them.
Prosecutors said Beale killed Hill first after the couple argued about Hill's family. He admitted to tying Hill to the bed and threatened to light her dog on fire. When Hill pleaded "Take me, take my life instead, please don't hurt my dog," Beale says he did what she said.
"The dog was being burned alive and I was like okay. I watched that **** because it was funny," said Beale during a recorded conversation with police.
Now, more than a year later, Beale claims he does not recognize himself in the video confession.
However, just minutes after the jury returned to the courtroom Beale had an outburst. He told the courtroom "Can't we get this **** over with?" He said it directly in front of the victim's families.
It's something Baxter's sister says she will not forgive Beale for.
"My brother practically raised him, loved him, and then he has the nerve to say that in court?" said Sherry Edwards Banks, Baxter's sister. "I wish we still had the death penalty."
Prosecutors said after Beale set Hill's house on fire, with her dog still inside, he went to Clifton Baxter's house. He then shot Baxter in the head as the 72-year-old man slept on his couch. Beale said he shot him over a dispute about money.
Beale said he did not mean to insult the families during the trial, claiming he was talking directly to the judge.
"I thought it was going to be like after the jury trial - once they found me guilty, I thought it was going to be a sentencing at the end," said Beale.
Beale is set to be sentenced for Hill's and Baxter's deaths in July.
He is expected in Norfolk Court for another murder he confessed to, the death of his cousin, Downing McLean.