Police still not ready to release Austin bomber's video confession

Officials investigate the scene where they say a bombing suspect blew himself up in his vehicle, off of Interstate 35 in Round Rock, Texas, Wednesday morning, March 21, 2018. The 24-year-old white man, named Mark Anthony Conditt, was a suspect in the series of bombings that have terrorized the city of Austin, Texas in recent days, the authorities said. He died in the blast early Wednesday, authorities said. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via The New York Times) -- AUSTIN CHRONICLE OUT, COMMUNITY IMPACT OUT, TV MUST CREDIT PHOTOGRAPHER AND STATESMAN.COM ON SCREEN, MAGS OUT, NEWSPAPERS ONLY ONLINE. Contact source for special permissions less Officials investigate the scene where they say a bombing suspect blew himself up in his vehicle, off of Interstate 35 in Round Rock, Texas, Wednesday morning, March 21, 2018. The 24-year-old white man, named ... more Photo: JAY JANNER, PTR / NYT Photo: JAY JANNER, PTR / NYT Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Police still not ready to release Austin bomber's video confession 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- The more than 25-minute video confession that the Austin bomber recorded before he died won't likely be made public anytime soon, Austin police said.

"We have the tape, the 25- to 28-minute tape where he talks about a lot of things but as we continue this investigation we will look to see if we can identify a specific motive behind this," interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a briefing this weekend.

Asked about when the tape will be released to the public, Manley said that will be a discussion when the investigation has concluded.

"We have to finish out to ensure no one else was involved, because if there were, then that might be something that is needed for a potential prosecution," Manley said. "So that's a decision we're going to have to make at a later time."

Manley did not say when that might happen but said the investigation is far from over.

"There's a lot of work that still needs to be done and a lot of evidence that is still being processed and a lot of individuals that will still likely be interviewed as we work through this case," Manley said.

While the recording hasn't been released to the public, those who have seen it have relayed portions of if.

U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, an Austin Republican, said that Mark Anthony Conditt called himself a psychopath on the recording and did not express any remorse for what he had done. McCaul said Conditt also questioned himself as to why he wasn't feeling remorse for what he had done.

"It's hard to imagine someone whose mind is so sick that they can commit bombings like this and feel no remorse," McCaul said.

The Austin American-Statesman quoted sources last week indicated that Conditt said on the tape: "I wish I were sorry but I am not."

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace.