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.