DALLAS (AP) — The inmate who masterminded a prison breakout that triggered a nationwide manhunt last winter said the restraint he showed avoided a blood bath and should spare his life.

In a bid to avoid the death penalty, George Rivas took the witness stand Tuesday to describe the Dec. 13 escape and the death of Officer Aubrey Hawkins during a Christmas Eve robbery of a sporting goods store.

Rivas, who led six other inmates out of a South Texas prison, said he never meant to kill Hawkins and treated the 10 civilian employees, three prisoners and a guard taken hostage during the escape relatively well.

"The reason every single one is alive is because we didn't want to hurt them," he said. "Quite honestly, if we wanted to be brutal, we had sledgehammers."

Rivas said the hostages were bound with plastic ties, not rope, so they could escape. He also used cardboard to pad the floor so stripped hostages would not get cold.

Jurors must decide whether to sentence 31-year-old Rivas to die by injection or life in prison for the slaying. Testimony was expected to resume Wednesday.

Defense attorneys have said Rivas never wanted to harm anyone and did not intend to kill Hawkins, only to shoot him in the shoulders to disarm him. Prosecutors have said five weapons were used to shoot Hawkins, who was hit 11 times and then run over with a vehicle driven by Rivas.

On cross-examination, prosecutor Toby Shook said Rivas was a chronic liar who would tell juries anything to save his own skin.

"Aubrey Hawkins was shown no mercy this last Christmas Eve, was he?" Shook asked. "You could have given up."

"And go back to prison? No," Rivas responded.

Rivas testified he didn't know he had run over Hawkins until it was stated in court.

"Someone told me I ran over one of the duffel bags," he said as the officer's widow, Lori, cried. "Not until I came into this courtroom did I know it actually was Mr. Hawkins."

Six of the escaped convicts were caught in January in Colorado. One man committed suicide rather than surrender.

At the time of the escape, Rivas was serving 17 life sentences for two robberies, along with another life sentence for violating probation for a home burglary.

He cried softly as he described a bleak childhood in which his stepfather abused his mother and half siblings. While growing up, he lived with his father and maternal grandmother.

He also denied sexually assaulting a relative, who testified earlier in the sentencing phase that Rivas began molesting her when she was 6.

Rivas said he broke out prison because he did not want to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

"I wasn't going to die an old man in prison," he said. "I'm a convict. I robbed and I'm wrong for it, but I'm still a human being."