Murder-case confession: 'I didn't mean to hurt him like that'
A homeless man accused of robbing and fatally strangling a fellow guest at a Manchester Township motel broke down in tears as he confessed.
"God, I didn't mean to hurt him like that ... I swear to you," Tracey Raynard Bradley said during his videotaped police interview. "It wasn't my intention for this man to die."
Northern York County Regional Police said Bradley, 46, robbed and killed 72-year-old Lee Choppin of Roanoke, Va., inside the victim's room at the Motel 6, 323 Arsenal Road, on May 26.
Bradley's confession was played at a hearing Tuesday in York County Court. His defense attorney, Rick Robinson, is seeking to have the confession suppressed, arguing that when police arrested Bradley he asked for an attorney and therefore shouldn't have been questioned any further by police.
But York County District Attorney Tom Kearney maintains the statement should be admissible.
Immediately before Bradley confessed, Northern Regional Sgt. David Steffen advised him, on tape, of his Miranda rights. He also had Bradley confirm he hadn't been coerced or threatened, and that he'd been given a McDonald's Big Mac value meal for dinner.
Steffen testified Tuesday that while eating, Bradley asked Kearney, "So Mr. Tom, are you going to give me the needle or not?" and that Kearney replied, "Well, Tracey, we'll have to see."
Taped interview: Initially on the video, Bradley adamantly denied having anything to do with the homicide.
But as Northern Regional Sgt. David Steffen began to reveal the evidence investigators had already gathered against Bradley, his story changed. That evidence included the confession of his stepdaughter to pawning one of the victim's rings, as well as records that Bradley used the victim's credit card at two gas stations.
"You know we got you," Steffen told Bradley. "You're a user, you're a junkie. ... I know what you're all about."
Police ended the interview but it resumed.
"Mr. Bradley indicated he had a willingness ... to tell us what really happened, in exchange for an opportunity to visit with (family) and to tell them goodbye," Steffen testified.
Police allowed him to visit with his wife and stepdaughter, then began taping Bradley again. On the tape, Steffen had Bradley confirm there were no conditions placed on Bradley as to what he would say to investigators after being granted the visit.
'The truth': "The truth is something everybody needs to know," Bradley said on tape.
He told police he went into Choppin's room to rob him, and -- panicked he would be caught and returned to prison -- put the victim in a "sleeper hold" to knock him out.
"I just held him ... till he stopped moving," Bradley said. "I'm thinking he was still alive and I ran out the room."
Bradley told investigators he felt forced into committing the robbery because his family had no money and had been evicted from their apartment by York City officials due to its uninhabitable conditions.
"Do you know what it's like when your family doesn't have enough to eat? I didn't know what else to do," Bradley said. "I'd been going all over York trying to find assistance for my family. ... Nobody wanted to give me any help."
Bradley's children are adults, police said.
He said if his former landlord had simply refunded his family's rent or security deposit, the killing wouldn't have happened.
Continued: The conclusion of Bradley's suppression hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16.
He remains in York County Prison without bail, charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, robbery, burglary and theft.
Bradley's stepdaughter, Enishia Bradley, 22, of York, faces theft-related charges for allegedly pawning Choppin's belongings. She is cooperating with prosecutors, Kearney has said.
Also charged is Bradley family friend Teara Hardy, 21, of York. She is charged with robbery, burglary, theft, conspiracy to commit all three charges and receiving stolen property.
Like Enishia Bradley, Hardy has been extended a plea offer from prosecutors, according to Kearney.
-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.
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