Updated at 2:30 p.m March 3, 2011:

A jury has found Todd Shepard guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The process now goes to the punishment phase, in which prosecuting attorney Robert P. McCulloch is expected to call for the death sentence.

Earlier:

While on the stand today defendant Todd Shepard did something few in his place do -  he admitted to his crime.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Shepard said he killed University City police sergeant Michael King in 2008.

And could mental instability or insanity negate Shepard's admission?

The Post-Dispatch said Shepard "blurted out" to prosecuting attorney Robert P. McCulloch: "I'm not crazy. I'm not insane. I'm perfectly sane, perfectly literate."

Shepard also said that he picked King because he was white, and because he was vulnerable in a parked car with its window down, after already stalking, and passing up, two other officers for attacks, the Post-Dispatch reports.

Updated at 1:27 p.m. March 3, 2011 to reflect that King's race was stated as a factor in Shepard's decision to kill King.

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