Trucker tells jury he deserves to die for fatally shooting Michigan anti-abortion activist

Trucker tells Michigan jury he killed 2 gentlemen

CORUNNA, Mich. — The man who confessed to fatally shooting an abortion protester and a businessman in a small Michigan community told jurors Tuesday he deserves to die for the killings.

Harlan Drake testified for hours at his first-degree murder trial in Shiawassee County, about 25 miles west of Flint. He admits killing anti-abortion activist James Pouillon and businessman Mike Fuoss.

“I deserve to die for committing those murders. … Obviously, I’ve murdered two gentlemen,” Drake, 34, said.

Michigan does not have a death penalty.

Drake said he’s not a “safe person” and should be “locked up somewhere.” His lawyers say he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity, but prosecution experts claim he understood the wrongfulness of his acts last Sept. 11.

Pouillon was shot four times as the activist stood near Owosso High School carrying a sign with a picture of a dead fetus. Fuoss, who once employed Drake’s mother, was shot 17 times in his office just outside Owosso, 30 miles west of Flint, Mich.

Drake said he asked to see the autopsy reports “so I could see what my aim was like.”

He said he considered killing himself after the fatal shootings but didn’t want to make a mess in his wife’s truck, The Flint Journal reported on its Web site.

Defense lawyer Robert Ashley has said Drake’s mental-health problems began when his semi-truck slammed into a car, killing two teens in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 2004. Police said Drake was not at fault.

The jury could hear closing arguments Wednesday.

Information from: The Flint Journal, www.mlive.com/flint