Man implicated of killing Everett officer compares himself to ‘wild cat’ throughout prison chat
Richard Rotter appears in court on March 3, 2023. (KOMO News)
Prosecutors rested their case versus the man implicated of shooting and eliminating an Everett policeman by revealing jurors a never-before-seen jailhouse video of Richard Rotter comparing himself to a “wild cat” in a cage.
In a jailhouse video chat from February 5, 2023, Rotter informed his sibling he entered into “survival mode” when entering into a scuffle with Officer Dan Rocha.
“I understand me, and I understand how my responses are, you understand?” said Rotter. “Anybody that believes they’re gonna be hurt enters into survival mode, (and) there are particular things that are gonna occur.”
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Prosecutors firmly insisted that the video programs Rotter has little compassion for shooting and killing Officer Rocha.
“It’s like a cat,” Rotter added. “Take a wild cat and try to put a wild cat inside a cage. Oh yeah, try that… yeah and see what happens!” he chuckled.
Earlier in the day, ballistics professionals affirmed that they believed Officer Rocha was killed by bullets fired from Rotter’s weapon. They said blood discovered on the weapon matched DNA from Officer Rocha, including that it was a match of one in 590 septillions.
Rotter is implicated of shooting Everett Police Department officer Dan Rocha several times while attempting to prevent being apprehended on March 25, 2022.
According to Rocha’s body-worn cam, Rotter was observed moving weapons in between 2 cars and trucks in the parking area of an Everett Starbucks. A heated discussion then occurred when Rocha ran a background check and found Rotter was a founded guilty felon.
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The video revealed Rocha trying to detain Rotter. A battle then occurred, and authorities reported that Rotter apparently shot Rocha 3 times, then ran him over with his car as he left the scene.
Rotter’s defense will take control of the case on Thursday. According to the judge, there’s a possibility that last considerations might occur as early as Friday.
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