A Lawrence Police detective testified Thursday that Damien Lewis confessed to killing an elderly couple five months ago in their east Lawrence home.

“He said the main reason he killed them was so they wouldn’t tell on him,” Detective M.T. Brown said.

Brown was one of six witnesses who took the stand during the first day of Lewis’ preliminary hearing in Douglas County District Court.

Lewis, 22, is charged with capital murder in the July 11 deaths of George “Pete” Wallace and Wyona Chandlee, both 71. The couple was found shot to death in the front room of their house at 1530 Learnard Ave.

If convicted, Lewis could face the death penalty.

Lewis also is charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and felony possession of a firearm.

Brown said that toward the end of a 6 1/2-hour interview, Lewis said, “I put two (bullets) in the old man’s head, I put two in the old lady’s head.”

Detailed testimony

According to Brown, Lewis confessed he rang the couple’s front doorbell and knocked on the back door around noon. Aware that no one was home, he kicked open a door near the garage.

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Once inside, Lewis allegedly said he searched the house for valuables he could stuff in his pants, shirt or socks because he didn’t have a car. In the master bedroom, Lewis found a .22-caliber pistol and several rounds of ammunition. He also pried the door off a small safe, finding two-dollar bills and a small collection of coins that included silver dollars.

Lewis allegedly told police he was in one of the back bedrooms when he heard Wallace and Chandlee talking. Realizing they’d returned home, he confronted them with the gun he’d found in the bedroom.

“He said he ordered them to get down on their knees and to be quiet,” Brown said. “And then he told them to give him their money. He said the lady said they’d just come from the hospital, and that the man told her to go ahead and give (Lewis) the money.”

Chandlee, Brown said, opened her wallet and handed Lewis $150. Lewis then shot Chandlee in the head.

“When she fell forward,” Brown said, “he said the man fell, too, and made noises like he was having a heart attack. He shot him, too.”

Lewis, Brown said, then took Wallace’s wallet. It contained $2.

Assuming Wallace and Chandlee were dead, Lewis ransacked the home.

Lewis allegedly told police that while leaving the house, he thought he heard Chandlee breathing. To make sure she was dead, he shot her in the head again.

He told police he left with two guns — he’d found a second pistol in the safe — stuffed in his socks and a brown Douglas County Bank bag stuffed in his pants.

Asked by police if the couple had resisted, Lewis allegedly replied, “No, I just popped them.”

After the arrest

Lewis was arrested July 17 at his girlfriend’s apartment near 16th Street and Haskell Avenue. Items taken from Wallace and Chandlee’s home were later found in Lewis’ possession.

At the time of his arrest, Lewis was wanted for parole violation after failing to report to officials following release from state prison where he had served a sentence for burglary and criminal possession of a firearm.

Brown said he let Lewis call his girlfriend, Stacie McClelland, after Lewis confessed.

McClelland also testified Thursday. She said that when Lewis telephoned her, he said “he did it, he’d killed them.”

Dressed in dark pants and a blue- and white-striped shirt, Lewis showed no emotion. At times he took notes, applied lip balm and chatted with his attorneys.

About 25 of the victims’ relatives sobbed and wiped away tears during Brown’s sometimes-gruesome testimony.

Confession questions

On cross examination, Lewis’ attorneys, Ron Evans and Kirk Redmond, raised several questions about when and how Lewis was told of his right to remain silent, and whether his confession had been coerced.

Brown said Lewis had been read his rights before the interview and had signed a consent form.

But during the interview, Brown said Lewis asked, “Do I need a lawyer?” Brown said he told Lewis that he “would have to decide that,” to which Lewis replied, “Nah, I don’t want an attorney.”

Brown later noted that while Lewis’ confession was videotaped, the questioning leading to the confession was not.

“Why not?” Redmond asked.

“That’s not the procedure we follow,” Brown said.

Redmond: “Why’s that?”

Brown: “I’m not sure why.”

Proceedings continue at 9 a.m. today before Judge Michael Malone. On Wednesday, Malone imposed a gag order, directing lawyers and witnesses not to talk about the case outside the courtroom.

At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, Malone will determine whether there is enough evidence against Lewis to warrant a trial.

Redmond and Evans are members of the Death Penalty Defense Unit within the state’s Public Defender’s Office.