SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — David DePape made a lengthy confession to San Francisco police just hours after he allegedly broke into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s house and beat her husband with a hammer.
On Jan. 27, 2023, police body cam video and audio of the 911 call and SFPD interrogation were released. Find them at the link below:
“I’m not trying to get away with it. I know exactly what I did,” DePape told San Francisco Police Department Lt. Carla Hurley as she interviewed him on camera inside a hospital room on October 28.
Video of the interrogation was revealed for the first time Wednesday for DePape’s preliminary hearing. DePape was friendly, blunt, and forthcoming while he spoke with Lt. Hurley for more than an hour.
Reporters in the courtroom could hear, but not see, the video because the TV monitor faced toward Judge Stephen Murphy and away from the courtroom gallery.
Hurley read DePape his Miranda Rights before asking, “Do you know why you are in custody?”
The 42-year-old Richmond man replied, “Oh absolutely. I’m not trying to get away with it. I know exactly what I did.”
DePape then began earnestly explaining why he broke into the Pelosi’s house and what his intentions for going there were.
“The lies are insane. People in Washington. It originates with Hillary (Clinton). Honestly, day in and day out, the person on TV lying every day was (Nancy) Pelosi. It’s f***ing insane the crime spree the Democrats have been on, persecuting the rival campaign,” DePape explained.
When Hurley asked him to clarify which campaign he felt was persecuted by the Democrats, DePape answered “Trump.” The Democrats go from one crime to another crime. It’s a whole f***ing four years. It’s unacceptable.”
Hurley then asked, “What was your intention going there (to the Pelosi’s home)?”
DePape answered, “Well, I was basically going to hold her hostage and talk to her. If she told the truth, I’d let her go. If she told a lie, I’d break her kneecaps.”
Hurley asked, “How did you get in?”
DePape answered, “It was not easy. There are cameras everywhere. I broke through (the glass door with a hammer) and I tried to turn the handle, and of course it’s locked. I body slammed through it. I didn’t feel any pain. I was surprised. All that noise, he did not hear it. He was asleep. I told him ‘I’m looking for Nancy Pelosi.’ He was like, ‘How can we resolve this?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.'”
DePape told the lieutenant that he was on a suicide mission with a hit list of people who he felt were responsible for “corruption” and “lies” in Congress. His list of targets included: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden; California Governor Gavin Newsom; and actor Tom Hanks.
“I told him, I have other targets. I can’t be stopped. If I have to go through him, I will,” DePape said.
Hurley asked DePape to describe what happened when the police arrived at the house in response to Paul Pelosi’s 911 call.
“The door is open the cops are standing there. (Mr. Pelosi) thinks that I’ll just surrender. I told him I’m here to fight. If you stop me, you will take the punishment instead,” DePape answered.
DePape told the lieutenant that he “jumped into action” by “yanking’ the hammer and swinging it at Paul Pelosi.
Police officers witnessed DePape strike Mr. Pelosi in the head with the hammer. Mr. Pelosi collapsed to the ground, lost consciousness, and lay facedown in a pool of blood, according to testimony.
Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Maffei described DePape’s plot against Nancy Pelosi as “cold and calculated.”
“The most stark picture is in the CT scan, where you can clearly see a very large indentation in the victim’s skull. He was unable to stop the blows from a very large hammer … full force,” Maffei told the judge.
For Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, Maffei played the confession tape, body worn camera videos from SFPD officers who witnessed the hammer attack, and Paul Pelosi’s 911 call with dispatchers. By mid-afternoon, Maffei told Judge Murphy that she had shown enough evidence for the case to move forward to a trial on all charges.
The District Attorney charged DePape with premeditated attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, threatening a family member of a public official, dissuading a witness, elder abuse, battery, and false imprisonment.
Defense attorney Adam Lipson argued that the attack was not premeditated, nor attempted murder. Lipson never disputed that his client was in fact the person who broke into the Pelosi’s home and attacked Paul Pelosi.
Lipson told the judge that DePape was intent on targeting Nancy Pelosi, not Paul Pelosi, and he intended to break the Speaker’s kneecaps — not kill her. DePape never spoke in court.
Judge Murphy disagreed with the defense.
The judge said, “It appears he formed the intent early on to take out anybody who was in his way. Mr. Pelosi got in his way, in particular when he called 911. He also said and admitted ‘I have to do something. I have other targets, I can’t be stopped by him. I’m here for the fight. To fight tyranny’ … further confirming his intent. He hit Mr. Pelosi with full force using a substantial weapon. The evidence is sufficient to show Mr. DePape intended to kill Paul Pelosi and did so with premeditation.”
The judge ruled to move the case forward to trial on all charges, DePape was lead out of the courtroom by deputies, and he returned to the San Francisco County Jail. DePape is being held in custody without bail. His next court appearance is slated for December 28.
