LOS ANGELES – The voice on the phone taunted police, "better catch me before I kill again," and described the location where officers could find the body.
Jurors listened to the recordings in court Monday as Deputy District Attorney John Monaghan gave his opening statements in serial murder trial of Ivan Hill , who is charged with killing six women in 1993 and 1994 and dumping their bodies along the Pomona Freeway.
Hill, 45, acknowledges placing the calls, and his defense attorney acknowledges that Hill killed the women.
• Crack the case in FOXNews.com's Crime Center.
But defense attorney Jennifer Friedman disputes the prosecution's claim that he killed them intentionally, which would make him eligible for the death penalty.
"Compulsive acts are not deliberate acts. ... They're not done after careful thought and weighing," Friedman told the jury. "Look at those killings. Listen to that phone call."
Prosecutors say one victim was strangled by hand and the other five had ligatures around their necks, which Monaghan said indicated Hill planned the killings.
In the recording of Hill's phone call to police, he was heard telling a 911 dispatcher he "did it again" and describing the location where he dumped the body.
"I did, um, what's this, number five or six, I forget, but she's out there," Hill said. In a second call, he asked why it was taking so long for officers to reach the scene. "Y'all better catch me before I kill again," he said.
Hill was linked to the victim by DNA testing and charged in November 2003. At the time, he was in prison for robbery, attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, and had been set to be released in three months.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox