‘I Am Not Sorry,’ Charleston Killer Declared in Manifesto

"Other than the fact that I trust people that I shouldn't and the fact that I'm probably better at constantly embarrassing myself than anyone who's ever existed, there's nothing wrong with me psychologically," Roof told the jury.

Roof's attorneys during the guilt phase of his trial have indicated that he chose to represent himself during the sentencing phase because he was worried his legal team might present embarrassing evidence about himself or his family. As early as last summer, they said they planned to introduce evidence that Roof suffers from mental illness and they hinted at that idea again during closing arguments of the trial's guilt stage.

"I would ask you to forget it," Roof told jurors, referring to what his lawyers said then.

On Wednesday, Jennifer Pinckney, the widow of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the church's pastor, recalled the terror of being in the next room with the couple's daughter Malana when Roof opened fire on the members of the Bible study group while their heads were bowed in prayer.

The jury also heard the 911 call she made from the reverend's locked office as the murders were occurring.

But Jennifer Pinckney also went to great lengths to describe her husband's loving nature. "He was a great catch," she said at one point.

"He always made time for the family, and he always made time for the girls," Pinckney said. "He was the person I think that every mom would be happy that their daughter met and married. ... I know that he loved me. And he knew how much that I loved him."

South Carolina Sen. Gerald Malloy, who served Pinckney in the state senate, described his colleague and friend as dedicated to public service and, particularly, to getting scholarships for needy students and creating youth programs.

Malloy described Pinckney as a man of the people who opened doors for women, greeted men with pats on the back and knelt to speak with children.

“It’s no surprise that he welcomed Dylann Roof into the Bible study with open arms,” Malloy said.

Another witness, the Rev. Kylon Middleton, an AME minister who had known Pinckney from the time they were children, recalled how they bonded over their unusual names and his friend always dreamed big.

Middleton said Pinckney, who in addition to being a reverend was also a South Carolina state legislator, could have become the state's first black governor.

"Pinckney was larger than life," he said. "It is such a shame that we would never know what he would have become."

Also taking the stand on the first day of testimony was the Rev. Anthony Thompson, husband of victim Myra Thompson.

Myra Thompson was leading the Bible study class in a discussion of the Gospel of Mark when she was murdered. Her husband said she was excited about the class that night. "She was radiant," he said.

The reverend said when he learned of the shootings hour later, he rushed to the church to find his wife. When he arrived at the scene, he said, he assumed his wife was with the other survivors who had been evacuated to the Marriott across the street.

It was survivor Felicia Sanders who told him Myra had been killed. Engrossed with panic he immediately turned and ran toward the church.

“That’s when I completely lost control for the first time,” Thompson said. “I literally did not know what to do. My whole world was gone."

"Everything I did I did for her, and she was gone,” he said as he sobbed on the witness stand. "What am I here for? If she's gone, what am I here for?"

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