Acosta

Defendant appeals from his conviction of murder, first degree, on four counts.

In, the early morning hours of August 14, 1966, defendant returned home to discover his wife was absent. Shortly thereafter, a man drove his car to the rear of the premises and let the wife out; she entered the home, and a quarrel ensued. Defendant shot his wife, his mother-in-law and his brother-in-law. He then took his children to the home of a cousin. He told the cousin what he had done, gave him instructions concerning the children, handed him the revolver he had used to kill his victims, and told him he was going to give himself up to the authorities. The cousin telephoned the police headquarters and repeated what defendant had told him about the killings. However, defendant did not go to the police station; rather, he went to the home of his paramour. After talking with her for some time, he strangled her to death. Then he switched the porch light on and off to attract the attention of an officer who was sitting in a police car at a curb nearby. This was about 5:30 a.m. Defendant told the officer he was the wanted man, that he had shot his people. After the officer placed defendant in…