MARTINEZ, Calif. -- A Sacramento man representing himself against charges that he murdered his sister and brother-in-law in their El Cerrito home in 2006 told jurors today that the he hates the victims "a little bit" because they ruined his life and they owe him for that.

Edward Wycoff, 40, has been charged with two counts of murder with enhancements for the use of a knife and a wheelbarrow handle for the Jan. 31, 2006, killings of Paul and Julie Rogers at their home at 1467 Rifle Range Road in El Cerrito. He has also been charged with the special circumstances allegation of committing multiple murders.

The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for Wycoff.

Wycoff had allegedly been thinking about killing his sister and brother-in-law for a while, but began planning the killings in earnest after they failed to invite him to Christmas that year, a decision Wycoff allegedly took as the final "slight," Deputy District Attorney Mark Peterson said during his opening statements in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez today.

On the night of the killings, Wycoff allegedly went to a Coldplay concert and then had dinner at In-n-Out Burger. Then he drove to the El Cerrito BART station, parked his van and rode or pushed a bicycle up the hill to the victims' house.

He stashed the bicycle on the street above their house and walked through the backyard to the victims' front door, where he smashed through a reinforced glass window next to the front door at about 4:25 a.m.

The noise woke up Julie Rogers, 47, and Paul Rogers, 48, and they confronted Wycoff, a 6-foot-5-inch, 300-pound man, in the hallway.

He was wearing night-vision goggles, dressed in black clothing, armed with a knife and a wheelbarrow handle and had on a motorcycle helmet to disguise his face.

As part of the disguise, Wycoff allegedly attached a braid of his deceased mother's hair to the helmet, Peterson said.

In the hallway, "Paul Rogers fought for his life," Peterson said.

He was stabbed 14 times. In the last stab, the knife was driven so deeply into his back that it got stuck and the killer left it there.

The fight in the hallway woke up Paul and Julie Rogers' two children, Laurel Rogers, who was 12, and Eric Rogers, who was 17. Eric called 911 and the two children hid in Laurel's room waiting for help to arrive.

Julie Rogers was also stabbed multiple times during the confrontation in the hallway, but at some point during the struggle she was able to make her way out the kitchen door, Peterson said.

When Wycoff was finished with Paul Rogers, he tracked his sister down by following her blood trail through the house, out the kitchen door and around the patio, where he allegedly delivered a deadly blow to the back of her head with the wheelbarrow handle, Peterson said.

She was stabbed 17 times, including one wound that eviscerated her and another that nearly severed her ear, and beaten extensively over her entire body.

While Wycoff was allegedly hunting down Julie Rogers, Laurel came out of her bedroom and found her father lying on his stomach with a knife sticking out of his back.

She ran to the kitchen to get a towel to try to stop the bleeding and saw Wycoff out the kitchen window, Peterson said.

After allegedly killing Julie Rogers, Wycoff jumped over the fence, ran up a hill behind the house and got on his bicycle. As he was riding away from the house, he pulled over to let police and ambulances go by.

Wycoff was arrested the next morning after he showed up at a hospital in Roseville seeking treatment for several injuries, including a deep cut to his leg, which Peterson said he likely got when he walked through the broken glass window upon entering the house.

At the police station, Wycoff allegedly confessed to the killings. He also confessed to the killings in recorded phone calls he made from jail, in letters he sent from jail and in poetry he wrote, including one that read, "My sister I gutted her like a fish," according to prosecutors.

Peterson said Wycoff allegedly began planning the murders in late December 2005 or in early January 2006

He was allegedly mad at his sister and brother-in-law for multiple reasons.

Since he was a child, he had lived with his parents in a house on Metheny Way in Citrus Heights, a suburb of Sacramento, but after they died, Julie Rogers wanted to sell the house. Wycoff allegedly believed that his sister was "stealing" his house, Peterson said.

He also believed his sister had mistreated their aunt Lu and thought she had placed her in a convalescent home and sold her house, which Wycoff believed was evidence that his sister was a bad person.

Wycoff also thought his sister was using her influence in the El Cerrito community to stop her neighbor from getting a construction project done, according to prosecutors. Wycoff allegedly believed this was further evidence that his sister was a bad person, Peterson said.

He also did not like the way the victims were raising their children and he did not like their liberal political beliefs. He considers himself a conservative, Peterson said.

The final "slight," though, was when he didn't get invited to his sister's house on Christmas, Peterson said.

Peterson said he believed it was after that that Wycoff made his final decision to kill his sister and brother-in-law and began formulating his plan.

"His plan was to murder Julie and Paul Rogers and then adopt the kids," Peterson said.

Peterson said Wycoff is "strange" and socially awkward, but he is not crazy and he knew what he was doing when he committed the murders.

Wycoff began his opening statement Tuesday by standing up quickly with his chair stuck to his hips. He swung around holding the chair to his hips and said he objected to the chair because it didn't fit. Then he looked around the courtroom, smiling.

He said the evidence in the case would show a lot about what happened, but "I don't think the evidence will show why. The evidence won't explain why it had to happen," Wycoff said.

He said he was born in Sacramento and lived there his entire life. He had held many jobs, but had been a long-haul truck driver for the 12 years before his arrest and has driven 1.5 million miles.

In 2005, he said he became only one of 50 truck drivers in the U.S. certified to haul explosives.

"I'm proud of what I've accomplished in the trucking industry," Wycoff said.

He said he had attention deficit disorder, but that he wasn't stupid. He had an IQ of 102, which is average. While he did poorly in school, he said he was a champion chess player for his school for five years.

The house in Citrus Heights was his home, he said. That's where he returned to each time he finished a trucking route and that's where he got his mail.

He said Peterson had "made a few mistakes" in his opening statement. One was that his sister never lived in the house on Metheny Way. She was almost 11 years older than him and had moved out to go to school by the time he and his parents moved there.

He claimed that his sister hated the house.

"That house was mine and we agreed that I would get it when dad died," Wycoff said.

He also said Peterson was wrong when he said he hated his sister.

"I did not hate Julie and Paul. I hate what they did. And after everything that's happened, I still don't hate them. Actually I do hate them a little bit. They owe me a life. This has ruined my life and Julie and Paul owe me for that," Wycoff said.

As for the final "slight," of not being invited to the Rogers' house on Christmas, Wycoff said, "It wasn't just Christmas. It was Christmas and Thanksgiving. Also, my birthday comes between Christmas and Thanksgiving."

He said it was also the same year his father died, and at the time, he was the children's favorite uncle.

He said he was the only person in the family who wasn't invited to Christmas.

"Someone who does that is someone who hates you," Wycoff said. "Someone's out to destroy you when someone does that to you."

Wycoff sat smiling slightly throughout Peterson's opening statements and attempted to make several jokes during his own opening statements. He ended by saying that he believed he still had a few fans out there and invited anyone who wanted his autograph to get in touch with his advisory council, an attorney assigned to give him legal advice during the trial.