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Jupiter triple murder suspect Christopher Vasata says he was framed

Posted at 5:00 PM, Oct 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-11 20:49:33-04

The man police believe gunned down three people on Super Bowl Sunday in Jupiter River Estates, claims he's being framed.

Christopher Vasata told his girlfriend, in a jailhouse phone call, that "I know I didn't kill anyone and they are framing this s***. I don't know what they [Jupiter Police] are going to write. They can write whatever the f*** they want. I think they are just trying to charge me with some crazy s***. Just because I wouldn't give my side of the story, now everyone thinks I'm such a POS."

Jupiter police have previously said Vasata confessed to the murders, telling an officer, "Here I am, looking at heaven. I just killed three people and I'm looking at heaven."

Brandi El-Salhy, Kelli Doherty, and Sean Henry died Feb. 5 after investigators say "three masked people reportedly came into the backyard and started shooting with what turned out to probably be a 0.223 caliber semi-auto load rifle, 0.40 caliber semi-auto load handgun and a 0.375 magnum revolver.

Police go on to say "two of the shooters along with the wounded shooter stole and fled the scene in the homeowner's car." Vasata was that wounded shooter police were referring to, and the car was later found to belong to Sean Henry, a victim.

A Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy said he found Vasata as he stumbled out of the back seat of a car in the 100 block of Paseos Way and collapsed on the street.

Before he went into surgery, Vasata said he had been shot by unknown people at "a buddy's house," and that he was outside the house when he was shot, police reported.

While recovering, Jupiter police say Vasata confessed to the murders, telling an officer, "Here I am, looking at heaven. I just killed three people and I'm looking at heaven."

But in a phone call, Vasata tells his girlfriend "I'm not trying to blame anybody but someone put that clip in my pocket, whoever did it put that clip in my pocket, it was found in my pocket, or threw it out when I got thrown out of the car or whatever."

On another day, while talking to a friend, Vasata repeats his innocence claim, saying "I'm not a murderer, I don't know how they keep upping my charges and making it worse."

"I didn't have a gun with me, I was just getting money from Charlie , like I said I'm just thinking whoever threw me out of the car threw it with me," Vasata tells his friend Jordan.

It appears from transcripts that Vasata does not remember much about being shot, referring to what police told him after Jordan asked if he was in someone else's car.

Vasata told him, "IDK [I don't know] they told me I ran two blocks, I also was told another story that I was tossed out of a vehicle, like someone who lives in Paseos, just laying in the street and tossed a blanket over me."

When Jordan says police claim he was driving the car, he says "I would remember all of this, they are making up a story and I don't know what to do right now, there's no way I drove, all I remember is hearing the gunshot, falling, feeling my leg, my hip like sizzling and then I didn't hear another gunshot it was like someone hit me with something, and then I remember, it's like a dream or whatever basically."

Jupiter Police have not said who shot Vasata, but they believe Charles Vorpagel, who owned the home and was later arrested on federal firearm charges, returned fire after the ambush.

As Contact 5 mentioned above, Jupiter Police believe there were three people there shooting the night of Feb. 5. While in the hospital, Vasata mentioned a few names when speaking to an officer.

Deputies arrested one of those men in April, for resisting arrest, while detectives served a search warrant on him, trying to get his DNA. The warrant said they had found the man's DNA on a gun discovered after the shooting.

Contact 5 is not naming the man, because police have not named him as a suspect in the case.

Documents also mention two other possible persons of interest Vasata told detectives "they should probably be looking at."

Jupiter police are still investigating, and continue to ask for any information on potential, additional suspects.