Over a cigarette with a detective, Vaughn Garris confessed to stabbing his neighbor to death by crawling through their shared attic. Then he put his feet up on a table at the police station, tipped his head back and fell asleep.

The 38-year-old Woodlawn resident at times appeared relaxed on his videotaped statement played in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Tuesday, despite having just admitted to a crime so brutal that prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.