Hawkins

—Appellant and his brother sadistically murdered their 75- and 79-year-old grandparents. The appeal is from a judgment convicting appellant of two counts of murder and two counts of grand theft; one *716 count of murder and the grand theft convictions were ordered merged with the remaining count of murder.

The Attorney General’s summary of the facts suffices as a background:

The two men were arrested in Lancaster in their grandparents’ car four days afterward. A knife; its sheath; and a belt found with the men had bloodstains of the victims’ type. Coins and a ring belonging to one of the victims were also recovered in the car. En route to the Los Angeles police station, Sergeant Gastaldo, the transporting officer, told appellant that he would not discuss the case. 1 However, appellant said: “I want *717 them all to know. I want everyone to know. I want them all to know why we killed our grandparents.” Following his arrival at the North Hollywood station, appellant made a full confession after a concededly adequate Miranda warning was given.

Prior to the commencement of the prosecution’s case-in-chief, a pretrial hearing was held concerning the voluntariness of…