‘I Just Shot My Family’: 911 Call Led to Man's Death Sentence — But Some Say It Wasn't His Voice

Jeffrey Hutchinson is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on May 1.

The Gulf War veteran, 62, was sentenced to death after a jury in Florida convicted him of murdering his girlfriend Renee Flaherty and her three children on Sept. 11, 1998.

On the night in question, Hutchinson left the home after a fight with Renee and went to a bar, then returned to the couple’s residence, where authorities say he grabbed his 12-gauge shotgun and carried out a brutal quadruple-murder.

Deputies arrived at the home to find Renee, 32, dead in the bedroom along with her 7-year-old daughter Amanda and 4-year-old son Logan, according to a statement of facts filed in the case and obtained by PEOPLE.

The body of 9-year-old Geoffrey was found in the living room with a bullet wound to the chest and another to the head.

Deputies arrested Hutchinson and charged him with the murders. Testing determined Hutchinson had gunshot residue on his hands and pieces of Geoffrey’s tissue on his body.

The biggest piece of evidence in the case, however, was audio of Hutchinson confessing to the murders in a 911 call, saying, “I just shot my family,” according to deputies.

“I love my family. Ma’am I love my family,” he later said to the operator.

Members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office quickly rushed to the scene after the call.

“Deputies arrived at Hutchinson’s home within 10 minutes of the 911 call and found Hutchinson on the ground in the garage with the cordless phone nearby,” the statement said. “The phone call was still connected to the 911 operator.”

At trial, two of Hutchinson’s friends testified that it was his voice on the 911 call.

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Hutchinson’s attorneys wanted him to present an insanity defense, but he refused to do so and has instead insisted for the past 27 years that the murders were committed by two armed intruders.

He has claimed in multiple appeals that the men wore masks when they gained entry into the house and killed the four residents.

Hutchinson said in his appeals that the residue on his hands was the result of a scuffle with the intruders, and he insists it was not his voice on the 911 call.

At least nine people, including Hutchinson’s parents and two brothers, said that the call was not made by Hutchinson, according to a 2008 appeal of the case filed in the Supreme Court of Florida. None of the nine people were called to testify at his trial.

Hutchinson continued to file appeals up until last week, with his final attempt at avoiding the death penalty rejected by the court on April 28. His lawyers had argued he has mental illness stemming from his combat service and was not mentally competent to be sentenced to death, the Tampa Bay Times reports.