Police Release Murderer's Confession In 2011 LES Stabbing Of Sarah Coit
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police have released the chilling confession of an admitted murderer.
Raul Barrera, 34, pleaded guilty to the April 2011 Lower East Side murder of his girlfriend, 23-year-old Sarah Coit.
Barrera turned himself into police less than a half hour after brutally stabbing Coit, he told officers.
"Hey, I walked over here and told the officers that something bad happened," Barrera said during the hour-long interrogation. "I don't know...I lost it."
Barrera explained to officers how the domestic dispute turned deadly, CBS 2's Chris Wragge reported.
"All the cutlery, the knives, they just all fell to the ground...and then we fell to the ground...then I was on top of her...then my hand got cut up and I was bleeding a whole lot, profusely. It just got out of control," Barrera told officers.
Police said Barrera used all eight kitchen knives to stab Coit to death.
Barrera was initially reluctant to admit his guilt, but eventually confessed to stabbing Coit a dozen times and leaving her for dead, police said.
"Whatever you saw is whatever happened and I am responsible," Barrera told interrogators.
Barrera also told police he thought about fleeing after stabbing Coit but said he called his father, who urged him to turn himself in to police.
Barrera said he apologized to his mom, dad, sister and son for murdering Coit.
Barrera also admitted to an argument the night before the murder that almost turned violent, when he pulled a knife on Coit but did not use it, police said.
A text message Coit's father, received from her and presented in court turned tragically true, Lynde Coit said.
"The Raul situation is a bit out of hand," the text message read.
"When I identified Sarah's body in the basement of the morgue, her injuries, the look on her face, the terror, will haunt me for the rest of my life," Lynde Coit told the court.
Barrera told police he had not considered calling 911 before turning himself in.
A hearing to determine Barrera's sentence continues. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is seeking the maximum sentence of 25 years to life.
