Texas Seven escapee Donald Newbury blamed the police officer killed by the outlaws for his own death, telling investigators that better training would have prevented the murder.

"It's tragic that it happened, but with prolonged training of rookies it could have been prevented," Newbury said in a statement given shortly after his capture.

The statement was the last evidence the Dallas jury heard in Newbury's trial for the murder of Irving patrolman Aubrey Hawkins. The defense rested immediately after the prosecution without calling any witnesses. If convicted, the 39-year-old three-time felon faces the death penalty. Texas Seven ringleader George Rivas was convicted of the murder in August and sentenced to death.

Newbury does not deny participating in the fatal robbery, nor shooting a gun. The real battle may come in the penalty phase when, if he is convicted, his defense will attempt to save him from Death Row.

In the statement the jury heard Thursday, Newbury denied firing on Hawkins, but admitted shooting at another man who he believed was an officer. That man turned out to be one of Newbury's accomplices.

He also expressed sympathy for Hawkins' widow, mother and 9-year-old son.

"My heart goes out to the little boy who lost his dad on Christmas Eve and his wife and his mother. They are the one's who got the loss," he told officers.

The seven fugitives, who broke out of the maximum-security Connally Unit prison Dec. 13, 2000, robbed the Oshman's sporting goods in Irving on Christmas Eve. In the statement, Newbury, who had been serving a 99-year-sentence for robbery, said he was opposed to the crime since he did not believe the group was ready "to do a job this big."

He was overruled, he said, and after three days of casing the store, they entered the store posing as customers and security guards. The robbery went smoothly, with the gang gathering $73,000 and 44 guns, until they tried to load the loot into a stolen Ford Explorer at the rear of the store.

Hawkins, summoned by the worried wife of a store employee, arrived as they pushed the bags into the SUV.

"The cop pulls in and rams the Explorer with his car. I then hear gunplay go off," Newbury said, adding that he quickly jumped into the vehicle. "The Explorer started back and I thought we ran over a bag, but later I heard it was the officer."

Hawkins was shot 11 times, pulled from his squad car and run over. His body was dragged some 16 feet. Irving Sgt. Jeff Spivey, the lead detective in the case and one of two officers who took Newbury's statement, testified Thursday that he believed Rivas fired at Hawkins first from the passenger side and another fugitive, either Newbury or convicted child abuser Randy Halprin, shot at Hawkins through the front windshield. Ballistic evidence suggests at least five different guns were used.

Moments after the initial volley of shots, Newbury said, he saw a man dressed in blue and carrying a gun running from the officer's car.

"I thought it was the officer so I fired three rounds," said Newbury. The bullets missed, and he realized that the man was his accomplice, convicted murderer Joseph Garcia.

After the robbery, the men fled to a Colorado mobile home park where they divided the money. Tips from people at the park led to the capture of two in the park and three at a nearby convenience center. Newbury and convicted rapist Patrick Murphy were cornered at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs.

When a SWAT team called the hotel room, a detective testified, Newbury bragged about the gang's exploits, pointing out that they were the first fugitives to appear on America's Most Wanted four weeks in a row.

The pair, armed with 10 handguns, two shotguns and bandoliers of ammunition, refused to surrender until a local television station agreed to air their comments. In a five-minute telephone interview, Newbury railed against the prison system, which he said handed down sentences that were out of proportion to crimes.

"Things have to be changed. There has to be more rehabilitation down in the system down there," he said.

Newbury kept talking even when handcuffed and placed in a squad car, two Colorado Springs officers testified. Officers Daniel Medina and Jonathan Allen, who drove him to the police station, said he complimented them on the town's "pretty women" and then launched into an explanation of Hawkins' death.

"He said, 'Hey fellas, that cop in Texas got shot because he had poor training,'" Allen recalled. "He said that [Hawkins] got shot on his shoulder while he was reaching for a weapon, got shot in the other shoulder as he was going for a shotgun. He then got shot a third time as he continued going for weapons."

Closing statements are scheduled for Friday.