By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Eric Robinson broke down in tears while detectives questioned him about the beating death of an 85-year-old Sycamore Township man, saying virtually all he could remember was being covered in blood after leaving the man's house.

Jurors in Robinson's murder trial Wednesday heard his taped statements to Hamilton County sheriff's investigators in the 2002 death of Harry Brown.

"I would never hurt Harry," Robinson said on the tape. "But, I don't think I will be able to live with myself knowing the fact that I did do something like that."

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said he will seek the death penalty if Robinson, 32, of Hamilton, is convicted on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.

Robinson met Brown when his mother cared for Brown's wife, who later died. Robinson did odd jobs for Brown.

On Aug. 31, Robinson said he stopped at Brown's house to borrow $50, but Brown said he had only $40.

"And, the next thing I know, I was in the van leaving from his house and I had blood all over me," Robinson said.

One of Robinson's attorneys, Norman Aubin, told jurors Robinson had been on a drunken, drug-fueled binge in the days before Brown's death.

If Robinson is convicted, his attorneys plan to persuade jurors that Robinson's low levels of the brain chemical serotonin caused him to lose control and sent him into a murderous rage.

Under Ohio law they can't use that theory as a defense. But, they have said they will use it as a mitigating factor to keep him from being sentenced to death.

E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com