William Hawkins was walking quickly past attendants in a Florida nursing home last month when he suddenly jumped onto his ex-girlfriend's 95-year-old lover and smothered his face with a pillow, according to police.

A nursing home attendant screamed and yelled for someone to call 911 when she saw the 47-year-old straddling the man on the bed, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, but Hawkins was able to walk out of the nursing home on Jan. 5 before police arrived.

Nevertheless, Hawkins quickly became a leading suspect after police spoke with the victim's girlfriend, who told police she "had a gut feeling" that he wanted to kill her boyfriend.

It's unclear exactly why the 47-year-old allegedly killed 95-year-old Robert Morell, who had been admitted to the Tiffany Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in September.

But according to an arrest warrant affidavit, Hawkins confessed to his sister during a jailhouse visit about the killing, telling her he had accomplished a "life goal."

"Let's say in your life you wanted to climb Mount Everest, okay?" Hawkins allegedly told his sister, who had agreed to record the jailhouse visit for police. "Finally you climbed it, in all your life, finally you made it to the top. When you made it to the top, how would you feel?"

Hawkins told his sister he had been planning the killing for years, blaming Morell for his failings.

"He's the reason why I am what I am," he allegedly said in the confession. "He's the reason why my life's messed up, okay? He's the reason I keep getting fucked over. So I took care of it myself."

On Jan. 30, Hawkins was charged with one count of first-degree murder. A public defender listed as his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the warrant, Morell met his girlfriend about 15 years ago, and the two had an open relationship. She told police she dated Hawkins for about five months but ended the relationship about three months before the killing occurred.

Despite breaking up, she said, Hawkins had continued to go to the condo where she lived with her boyfriend, including just hours before the killing.

On the morning of Jan. 4, she said, Hawkins had snuck into her home through her bedroom window. She told police she ran and asked for help from two friends who were staying with her, causing Hawkins to grab the keys to her Cadillac and flee.

Hawkins returned later that day, entered through the front door, and showered at the home, she told police. She said she was afraid of him, so she allowed him to stay and shower.

While in the condo, she told Port St. Lucie police, Hawkins saw the insulin needles she used for her cat and suggested she inject the insulin into her boyfriend's feeding tube to kill him.

"She immediately rejected the idea and told him no," according to the warrant.

Hawkins left again with her car without permission, police said; then, Morell's girlfriend called the nursing home, fearing he would hurt him.