Detective testifies teen admitted killing ex-monk

Kim Smith

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

A teenager arrested in a series of home invasions and rapes told police he didn't mean to kill a former monk, a Metro Police detective testified Wednesday.

Detective James Larochelle said Justin Porter, 17, told him that he broke into Gyaltso Lungtok's apartment on June 8 because he saw a police car and he didn't want to be found walking around with a gun.

Police believe Porter invaded 13 homes between Feb. 1 and June 9. In six of the incidents, women were sexually assaulted, and Lungtok was slain in a seventh.

Wednesday was the fifth day in Porter's preliminary hearing, which will determine whether he will stand trial on as many as 58 charges.

Larochelle testified that Porter told him he thought Lungtok's apartment was vacant. He ended up shooting Lungtok, 31, when the man came at him from out of the dark, Larochelle said.

The detective said Porter told him that he took off running but returned a short time later to pick up shell casings so the weapon couldn't be traced to him.

Porter initially said he heard Lungtok struggling for breath when he went back, but later said that he only heard Lungtok in his mind, Larochelle said. He didn't check on Lungtok because he didn't want to know if he had killed him.

Porter was arrested while visiting his father in Chicago after DNA reportedly linked him to at least two of the sexual assaults.

Larochelle said he and two other Metro detectives flew to Chicago to interview Porter on Aug. 12.

The detective said Porter reacted oddly when he was shown a photo of Lungtok's apartment complex and was told they wanted to ask him about an "incident" that took place there.

"He pointed at the photograph and he stood up and said 'I had nothing to do with this, I had nothing to do with this,' " Larochelle said.

After pacing the room for a few minutes, Porter sat down and told the detectives his friend Deon had killed Lungtok, Larochelle said.

A short time later, as they were taking a break, Larochelle said Porter told him that when he came back he wanted to know what he thought about his story.

Larochelle said that when he told Porter that he didn't believe him, Porter began to sob and told him the story about the police car, the gun and the shooting.

Porter told him he thought he fired three shots, Larochelle said.

According to earlier testimony, however, Lungtok was shot seven times, with the fatal shot severing his pulmonary artery and puncturing a lung.

Porter surprised him at another point in the interview, Larochelle said.

"He said 'Can you ask me if I feel sorry about this?' " Larochelle said. "When I did, he said something like 'If I could take back the hands of time, I would so nothing would happen.' "

The hearing was to resume this afternoon before Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle. Because of scheduling conflicts, the hearing isn't expected to conclude until early December.