VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Jury selection on the trial of Cola Beale, the man accused of killing his girlfriend, his father figure and his cousin, before burning down his girlfriend's townhome began on Monday.
Beale confessed the murders to News 3 in a jailhouse interview in 2022.
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At the time, he told News 3 that he "snapped" and shot his girlfriend, Czavi'er Hill, 31, in the head because her parents "kept confronting him about his plans" with their daughter.
During day one of the trial, prosecutors brought up their first witness, Detective Chris Jachimiak with the Virginia Beach Police Department.
Jachimiak interviewed Beale after he was arrested.
In a video shown during that interview, Beale admitted to shooting Hill and Clifton Baxter.
He told detectives he felt neither Hill's family nor his own had his back.
Beale said he tied Hill up in her room and was just going to leave her like that until he brought her dog in, covered it in bleach, and had a lighter.
"I pulled her dog in the room and I was gonna set the dog on fire, and she told me, 'No, don’t do nothing to the dog. You can take me and do whatever you were going to do to the dog to me instead,' and so that's what I did," Beale said to News 3.
Hill's body was discovered two days later by police when her townhome went up in flames.
Hill's dog was also found dead in the home.
In the video, Beale said he watched Hill's dog burn alive and thought it was funny.
He also took Hill's car and set it on fire.
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In the video the detective asked Beale if he had any remorse.
"When you feel dead, you don't care who dies," Beale said in the video.
Beale told News 3 in 2022 that at the time he had "no remorse" for killing Hill. "When you snap, you don't think about remorse," he said.
Twelve hours after Beale said he killed Hill, he headed to Clifton Baxter's home on Linda Court in Virginia Beach, where he said he killed the 73-year-old. Baxter was in a relationship with Beale’s mother and continued to have a relationship with him after they broke up.
WATCH: Part 1: Cola Beale's jailhouse confession
Beale then proceeded to kill his cousin, 32-year-old Downing McLean, he told News 3.
WATCH: Part 2: Cola Beale's jailhouse confession
"I got fed up with him because he didn't think I was helping him, so I said, 'Man, I just killed two people... do you think I'm not ready to shoot again?'" Beale said. "I went right in the kitchen, shot him in the head. He didn’t drop and kept moving, so I shot him in the back to make sure he hit the ground."
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After killing three people, Beale said he took McLean's girlfriend hostage in an Airbnb, where he watched the news coverage of his manhunt.
"I was watching y'all's broadcasts," he said. "Y'all did some good broadcasts."
Beale also admitted to plotting more murders while in the Airbnb.
One week after Beale began the killing spree, he was caught by U.S. Marshals.
Beale has a criminal history dating back to 2005 including armed robbery and sexual assault on a child.
