An alleged spree killer told investigators he committed two murders in a Lower East Side apartment building “by accident” – and only his third slaying of the night was intentional.
In a videotaped statement, Steven Santos said his gun “just went off” – twice – while committing burglaries in two different apartments inside 504 Grand St. last June.
“I wasn’t looking to hurt nobody,” Santos said of the night he allegedly murdered Ray D’Amelio, 49, and Larry and Sara Sprung, both in their 80s. The tape was played in a hearing before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward McLaughlin, who is deciding whether the tape can be admitted as evidence in Santos’ pending trial.
On the tape, Santos, 21, says he was riding the F train when he ran into an acquaintance named Mike. Santos said he told him he was “stressed” because he didn’t have any cash – so Mike gave him a .380 caliber handgun to help him out. Santos said he didn’t know the weapon was loaded “until the first accident.”
He said that “accident” happened after he went into an alley to drink beer and smoke some pot he suspects was “laced with something.” In the alley, he noticed an easily accessible fire escape and open windows at the Grand Street building.
He said he climbed up into D’Amelio’s third-floor apartment with his gun drawn through an open bathroom window. He said he walked into the bedroom where D’Amelio was sleeping. “He caught me by surprise,” Santos said. “I jumped back and my finger hit the trigger . . . It just went off.”
Santos said he helped himself to some of D’Amelio’s booze, and then ransacked the place looking for valuables.
He then went back out on the fire escape and down one flight into the Sprungs’ apartment. He said that when he was in the living room, he was “startled” by Sara Sprung.
“Once again, the gun was in my hand,” and once again, it “went off,” Santos said.
Santos said he then went into the Sprungs’ bedroom, where Larry was still sleeping. “By this point, I knew the gun was loaded,” Santos said. “Out of fear, I shot him, because I shot his wife by accident.”