Nassau detective testifies accused cop killer said he had no memory of encounter with officer

From his hospital bed, Darrell Fuller first told detectives he didn't remember being in a car crash or confrontations with a police officer and another man, a Nassau detective testified at the murder defendant's trial Monday.

But Fuller's answers changed after police got more direct with their questions, Det. Matthew Ross told jurors in Mineola.

"We know you shot Officer Lopez. We know you shot Mr. Facey. Why did you do it? Why did this happen?" Ross said police asked Fuller as he recovered from two gunshot wounds in a Queens hospital.

That's when Fuller denied any role in the Oct. 23, 2012, slayings of Nassau Police Officer Arthur Lopez and Raymond Facey, a 58-year-old construction worker from Brooklyn.

"He went from 'I don't remember' to 'I didn't do it' " Ross said.

The detective said he rode in the ambulance that brought Fuller to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center after police answered 911 calls about a gunshot victim on 111th Avenue in Queens.

Several hours after the slayings, police found Fuller -- the man they were seeking in connection with the Nassau homicides -- bleeding beside a minivan.

Prosecutors have alleged Fuller, 34, of St. Albans, Queens, had a friend shoot him in a leg and by his right shoulder so he could try to look like a third victim after gunning down Lopez and Facey.

Authorities have said the slayings happened near the Nassau-Queens border after Fuller fled the scene of an accident and shot Lopez, a 29-year-old Emergency Service Unit officer, in the chest during a traffic stop. They've alleged Fuller then drove his disabled car a short distance south on the Cross Island Parkway before fatally shooting Facey and escaping in the man's car.

Ross also testified Monday that Fuller told police he didn't know who shot him or where the incident happened.

The detective said Fuller's denials about involvement in the killings came after the defendant had gotten treatment for his gunshots and verbally waived his Miranda rights. Ross testified Fuller couldn't sign his name on a waiver because of one of his injuries.

During cross-examination, Ross said he didn't know if Fuller was getting pain medication while in the hospital's emergency room. He also agreed it's fair to say sleep-deprived people have trouble reasoning and it was possible Fuller had been awake for about 20 hours at one point when he was speaking to detectives.

Jurors also saw photos Monday of what appeared to be bloodstains and bullet holes in Fuller's clothing that police recovered from hospital staff.

Fuller is facing life in prison without parole if jurors convict him in the first-degree murder case. Testimony continues Wednesday.