[bloodrayne]

Ex–Supermarket Clerk's Bizarre Murder Admission

Norristown, Pennsylvania - A former supermarket clerk said he confessed to killing three women and a child because a detective questioning him carried a gun.

John C. Eichinger, 33, said at a pretrial hearing Thursday that 15 years of supermarket training taught him, "When you see a gun, give the person what they want."

Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor said that among many unusual explanations he had heard in courtrooms, Eichinger's "ranks up there with the wackiest."

Eichinger's court-appointed lawyer, William McElroy, also argued that police took Eichinger's statements without giving him his Miranda rights, and asked Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter to throw out the confessions. Carpenter didn't immediately rule.

Eichinger gave statements saying he fatally stabbed Heather Greaves, 27, her sister, Lisa, 23, and Heather's daughter, Avery Johnson, 3, on March 25 at the Greaves' home in King of Prussia.

He also acknowledged killing 20-year-old Jennifer Still in 1999, police said. Eichinger said when he saw Montgomery County Detective Richard Nilsen had a gun, "I told him what he wanted."

Investigators said Greaves and Still had rejected romantic overtures by Eichinger, and a knife used in both slayings was found in his home.