Startling confession peels back layers of a murder suspect's mind

BRADENTON - Editors note: This story contains disturbing material from a murder confession. Most of the brutal details of the crimes were reported in earlier accounts, but the suspect's story has not been heard before -- and may trouble some readers.

Cliff Davis was choking his mother when he whispered in her ear, "This is how you die."

Stephanie Davis had begged for her life, telling her son she loved him and would do anything for him. Cliff Davis would later tell police he could not stop the attack once it began.

Hours later, he stabbed and strangled his grandfather in the same apartment in Wares Creek, a picturesque section of old Bradenton.

Joel C. Hill, Davis' 77-year-old grandfather, died after a protracted struggle, Davis told Bradenton police.

"I now know it takes a person a lot longer to die than I expected," Davis told police, according to a 303-page transcript of his confession reviewed by the Herald-Tribune.

The detailed confession, a centerpiece of the state's case against Davis, provides a rare look into the mind of a man accused of murder.

Prosecutors have not openly talked about the motive in the December 2005 double-killing, and much about the state's death penalty case -- including the confession Davis made to police -- has remained confidential until now.

Davis offered them a chilling account, recalling how he strangled his mother and grandfather while ignoring their pleas to spare their lives. He did not expect to get away, he said, because he had made a grisly plan for his own death.

"This, this was two relatives," Davis told police. "It wasn't a serial killing thing."

Davis said that he was angry with his 42-year-old mother, and that he needed to kill his grandfather, Joel C. Hill, to acquire his firearms in a plot in which Davis planned to be fatally shot by a person known to him. Davis admitted having sex with his mother's corpse after killing her, according to the confession.

Davis also said he wanted to rape and torture a woman before handing the gun to her so she could exact revenge upon him. His swift arrest ended the scheme.

Days before the killings, Davis got a tape recorder and spoke into it, articulating his desire to kill -- and to be killed -- in a diary of sorts that has become a central piece of evidence in his case.

Davis told police he knew right from wrong -- a point prosecutors could use to discount an insanity defense. There was little remorse, he said.

But whether jurors get to hear all or part of what Davis told police the night he was arrested remains unknown.

The confession is under appellate review after a judge in Bradenton tossed the bulk of the statement.

The judge, Janette Dunnigan, said Bradenton police violated Davis' request for an attorney.

But attorneys for the state argue that Davis willingly spoke to police and therefore his statements should be used in open court.

The Second District Court of Appeal, in Lakeland, has not yet issued a ruling in the matter.

Anger leads to deadly rage

Davis, who is 22 now and jailed with no chance for bail, told Bradenton police he first thought about killing his mother a month before he put his plan into action.

Davis said he was angry with his mother after a fight, and wanted her dead.

He strangled her from behind, throwing an arm around her neck in a chokehold as she struggled with him.

"I wanted to make it quick and fast, quick and fast," Davis told police Lt. Keith Davis during an interrogation after police arrested Cliff Davis at a friend's house.

Davis went shopping after the murder and later ended up at his grandparents' house in Bradenton. He said he did not want to kill his grandfather there.

Davis called his mother's phone -- ostensibly to see if she would pick him up -- but she of course could not answer. He convinced his grandfather to drive him to his mother's apartment. Davis let his grandfather in first and struck from behind.

Killing his mother, he said, was "simpler" than taking the life of his grandfather. Davis said a knife broke as he tried to cut his grandfather's neck. He then strangled him.

But Davis said the old man would not die -- his pacemaker kept firing. He clamped harder on his grandfather's neck.

"You know, it's like I couldn't keep him dead," Davis said.

In the apartment, Davis then laid out pictures, documenting his life in chronological order.

There was a picture of Davis as a baby. There was a picture of Davis playing baseball.

Davis' grandmother discovered the bodies and called police, who used cell phone records to find Davis at a friend's house.

Davis told police he would have shot the officers at the house but did not have time.

Arrest foils further plans

"What other bodies might be out there?" asked police Lt. Keith Davis.

"I have two bodies to my name," Cliff Davis said. "Unfortunately."

Davis told police he wanted to rape and torture a woman who he said had betrayed him. He would brand the woman and dunk her in water and light her on fire.

"Just wanted to have some fun before I died, basically," Davis said.

But Davis said he did not know whether the woman would be home. If he could not find her, he said he wanted to torture an attractive woman who lived in his mother's neighborhood.

"I wanted to do so many horrible things to them that they would want to kill me," Davis said. "You know, I'd control the situation, obviously."

And later: "I was just going to have a good old time and go out of this world in style."

Davis tape-recorded his plan several days before killing his mother and grandfather. Authorities say the recording shows premeditation, which could help the state firm up a case for the death penalty.

Hoping for infamy

Davis called the murders "cut and dry," saying there will be no doubt as to his guilt or innocence.

To him, the issue is life or death.

"I want to lessen what's going to happen now," Davis declared in his confession.

Davis, who grew up mostly in Texas, talked about not getting attention as a child.

He talked about his destiny in life, how he wanted to make something of himself.

"I don't know anything about Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison or Napoleon or any of these people, but they did something that went down in history," Davis told a Bradenton detective. "They will be remembered."

Davis said he wanted to be remembered -- not for something good or evil. He wanted the world to know that he lived.

He said he fears he will rot away now, fading into oblivion.

"I just wanted 500 years down the line, Clifford Davis lived. He was here. He did some s--t worth remembering. You know, I had so much potential. I could have done anything."

He told police that he has "serious problems" and doubted medication would help him.

He said he has never abused drugs. He said he was not hearing voices when he killed his mother and grandfather.

His attorney, Franklin Roberts, has announced his plan to rely on an insanity defense, which requires showing Davis did not know right from wrong at the time of the killings.

Davis said he is not afraid of death. He does not want a lengthy trial. Jail, he said, scares him. He said he is worried about being raped or killed in prison.

As police listened to Davis, they thanked him for sharing his insights.

"The only thing I can tell you is you educate me and my other detectives," said Lt. Keith Davis. "So one day when we see an 11-year-old boy and he's thinking what you're thinking, maybe we can help change his course."

The detective continued: "You teach us as much as we can ever learn. But I can't change what happened."

The detective said he wished he could have "fixed" Davis before he became a killer.