Shane James trial: Bedroom, journals, and notes shown to jury

AUSTIN, Texas - The trial continues for Shane James, Jr. He's accused of killing his parents, four other victims and injuring three other people in 2023.

On Thursday, the trial focused on his parents' murders. Jurors heard testimony from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office (BCSO). 

Shane James trial: Day 6

What they're saying:

Deputies were doing a welfare check on the James residence, where James lived with his parents, Shane James Sr. and Phyllis James. The welfare check was requested by Austin police after the shooting spree in Austin. 

Body camera video shows deputies breaching the house, finding pools of blood, and finding his parents' bodies in the bathroom. 

In the courtroom, James notably kept his eyes down for the parts that showed his parents' bodies. At several points, he wiped his eyes. 

The jury saw photos of his bedroom. The detective described it as having a pungent smell. There were all sorts of incoherent notes on the walls with things like "the lasering is concluded, not done with me."

In his room, there was also a training gun and a gun manual, which matched the weapon he used on his shooting spree.

There was unlabeled medication, caffeine pills, and allergy pills. In the closet, there were empty soda bottles.

BCSO Detective Ruby Garcia interviewed James from jail a couple of weeks after the shooting spree. He spoke softly throughout the interview.

He said he had feelings of "impending doom."

"I was watching YouTube videos, and I was putting notes on my wall, and I was convinced without a f***ing shadow of a doubt that those were not my f***ing parents at all, and they had (unintelligible) spy f***ing since I was young. They were contractually f***ing obligated to f***ing be my parents," James said in the interview.

He said after shooting his father twice in the kitchen, his mother was screaming. She backed up, and he shot her through the bedroom door, but James said he didn't remember shooting through the door. He said he hated to see his mother suffer, so he shot her again. Both bodies were dragged to the bathroom. SHANE

James took $90 from his mother's purse, left in his father's Nissan Versa, then went back to the house. He said he didn't want his brother to see everything. He sounded disgusted when he said there was blood everywhere. James mentioned he filled the dog bowls.

When he drove north towards Austin, he described a "little fairy f***ing kicking me in the face."

Detectives asked in the interview if there was anything he wanted to tell his family, he said, "I want to tell my family what my mother told me: 'Shane, don't get arrested.'"

Dig deeper:

The jury saw various journal pages from 2017 to 2020 that mentioned things like a secret society and a cult. 

The defense highlighted mentions of lasers in his notes and journals. James has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. In their opening statements, they had said there were "laser masters" in his mind.

When autopsy photos of his parents were shown, James kept eyes down the entire time. 

For a thread of updates throughout the day, click here.