Serial killer suspects' boasting taped

PHOENIX, July 31 (UPI) -- Surveillance tapes captured chilling incidents of boasting from two suspects eventually arrested in the Arizona "Serial Shooter" killings.

The Arizona Republic said Tuesday prosecutors secretly recorded conversations in which the accused killers joke about their preference for shooting victims in the back, and comparing themselves to the notorious D.C. Snipers.

Dale Hausner and Samuel Dietman are charged in the deaths of seven people and the wounding of another 17 during a 14-month spree in the Phoenix area.

The pair face separate trials starting next year. Their attorneys are trying to have the tapes thrown out on grounds they were obtained illegally.