New Brighton suspect: 'They should give me a medal here,' after slaying of neighbor

Hours after fatally shooting one neighbor and wounding another last year, Neal C. Zumberge told investigators that he should be rewarded for his actions.

"They should give me a medal here," Zumberge said during an interview with Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) agents.

Audio of the 80-minute interview was played in Ramsey County District Court Friday, the third day of testimony in Zumberge's murder trial. In it, Zumberge twice said he didn't flip out, repeatedly said that his wife was not involved in the shooting and characterized his actions as "dastardly."

Zumberge, 58, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder, attempted first-degree murder, second-degree murder with intent and attempted second-degree murder with intent. He killed Todd Stevens, 46, and injured Jennifer Cleven, 49, on May 5, 2014.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Anna Christie has argued that Zumberge shot his New Brighton neighbors across the street because he was fed up with their habit of feeding deer, and because they called police on his son.

Zumberge's attorneys, William Orth and Gary Wolf, are arguing that their client was defending himself and his wife based on threats Stevens made that night and his history of threats and carrying guns.

In the BCA interview, Zumberge said several times that he was worried for his wife, Paula Zumberge, as she argued outside with Stevens and Cleven.

Zumberge complained about Stevens' habit of feeding deer, which he said attracted the animals over the previous 10 years. He said that he and his dog had contracted Lyme disease, and that the deer trampled his yard.

He also listed several other grievances.

Zumberge told agents that he was three months late with his mortgage payments, and blamed his unemployment on a harassment restraining order Cleven obtained against him in 2013.

Zumberge, a former physical therapist, noted several times that Cleven called the police on him in July 2013 for allegedly violating the order when he placed a "no fishing" sign on his property.

Zumberge was charged with violating the order. He said that although the case was dismissed, his mug shot was easily found online.

One of the agents then asked him what made May 5 different from previous days.

"I don't know," Zumberge answered. "Just everything."

Zumberge walked the agents through years of bad relations with Stevens and Cleven that he said began as soon as the Zumberges moved into the 2500 block of Knollwood Drive 17 years earlier.

Stevens and his father, who had also lived across the street, were drunks who carried guns and fought, Zumberge said.

Although Zumberge essentially admitted to the shooting, he didn't provide a blow-by-blow account, and refused to say how many shots he had fired. The agents pleaded with him for more details to no avail.

Zumberge told the agents that he instructed his wife not to go outside to confront Cleven when Cleven arrived home, but she didn't listen. An argument ensued between the women, and Stevens stepped outside of his home.

"I was outside, but I didn't want them to see me," Zumberge said.

Surveillance video from Stevens' home was later played in court Friday. It showed Neal Zumberge peeking out from the side of his house five times, stepping into his yard, firing and then retreating behind his house.

Paula Zumberge is seen in the video standing at the edge of the family's front yard.

In the interview with BCA agents, Neal Zumberge said that his wife was not aware of the "dastardly [expletive] that went down."

Wolf has previously said that Zumberge fired at Stevens when he saw Stevens make a verbal threat to Paula Zumberge and reach for what appeared to be a gun holster.

However, Zumberge did not mention a specific threat during his BCA interview, which also showed that a BCA agent, not Zumberge, initiated the idea that Stevens could have reached for a gun.

Zumberge said of the argument, "All I heard was [expletive] this and [expletive] that."

One of the agents then asked if it looked as if Stevens was reaching for a pistol.

Zumberge didn't answer directly. The agent asked if he saw a firearm on Stevens.

No firearms were recovered outside of Stevens' home or on his body. A cellphone damaged by a projectile was recovered, and a black cellphone case was found clipped to Stevens' side.

The defense called the Zumberges' daughter, Jessica, to testify Friday. She said that she had seen Stevens carry a small handgun in a cellphone case, and that he had threatened her father several times.

Christie tried to raise doubts about Jessica Zumberge's credibility, getting her to admit that she had read news articles about the trial, watched TV coverage and had discussed it with her father.

Defense witness Steve Thompson later testified that Stevens, whom he considered a friend, did sometimes carry an approximately 3-inch-long gun in a clip at his waist.

The defense is expected to call Paula and Neal Zumberge to the witness stand Monday.