In a small, nondescript Portland police interview room, cold case homicide Detective Jim Lawrence asked serial killer suspect Homer Jackson on the second day of an interview, "Where do we go from here?"

"I may have done them, but I just don't recollect them,'' said Jackson, seated at a small table drinking a Snapple.

"Maybe Overlook,'' Jackson told the detective at about 9:35 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2015. "It's still kind of fuzzy. ... I might have done that one.''

Defense lawyers for Jackson, a 56-year-old Portland man now indicted in the killings of four prostitutes in the 1980s, concede that their client confessed to one of the deaths - 14-year-old Angela Anderson in September 1983.

But they argued in court Thursday that he never admitted to participating in the March 23, 1983, killing of Essie Jackson at Overlook Park or two others he's accused of committing, as Detective. Lawrence wrote in his police report. Homer Jackson isn't related to Essie Jackson.

Jackson's lawyers asked the court to throw out the indictments or at least order a review of grand jurors' notes to determine if the detective misrepresented Jackson's statements.

Jackson "makes clear he doesn't remember any of these homicides, except for the Angela Anderson one. ... Saying 'I don't remember' doesn't mean 'I did it,''' defense lawyer Conor Huseby said. "When the state elects to put a man's life on the line, due process and the Eighth Amendment demands these assurances."

Multnomah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden countered that there were no misrepresentations made by detectives before the grand jury.

"We just have a pretty significant difference of opinion,'' Snowden said.

What Lawrence wrote in his police report -- that Jackson "went on to make admissions to his participation in the deaths of Latagna Watts, Tonja Harry and Essie Jackson '' -- isn't a misstatement, Snowden told the court. The defense request is baseless, she said.

Snowden played a short clip from the hours-long interview that Jackson had with Lawrence and his partner, Detective Meredith Hopper.

The clip included detectives' questioning of Jackson about Essie Jackson's death at Overlook Park. It appeared someone had dropped her body over the fence and it tumbled about 25 feet down a steep embankment. She died of asphyxiation by strangulation.

"I might have done that one,'' Jackson told the detectives.

"What about that makes you remember?'' Lawrence asked.

Maybe because it was close to Kaiser medical offices, Jackson responded.

Later, they questioned him about the death of Tonja Harry, whose body was found July 9, 1983, partially submerged face down in the slough bordering West Delta Park.

"I think she resisted. ... You just held her down,'' Lawrence told Jackson.

"I have fear of drowning,'' Jackson responded. "I may have but it just doesn't feel right.''

Snowden urged the court to consider the videotaped interview in the context of the investigation. She argued that Jackson admitted to killing multiple women, all prostitutes who were African American.

"Mr. Jackson impliedly acknowledged he cannot recall the details of some of the homicides he's responsible for,'' Snowden said.

She highlighted that Jackson firmly denied killing a Caucasian woman that the detectives questioned him about.

In the video clip played in court, Jackson told them, "No white women, no disrespect.''

And Hopper responded, "I'm glad you don't kill white women. I wish you don't kill anyone.''

Jackson's lawyer agreed that the court should consider the context of his client's statements.

Throughout the course of the police interview with Jackson, the detectives repeatedly told him that his DNA evidence was found at the scenes of the crimes, that they knew he killed them and that they didn't want to hear him deny it.

So instead, Jackson said essentially, "I might have done them, but I have no memory," Huseby argued.

"Throughout it's clear he does not remember,'' Huseby said.

Huseby has argued that the state's case against Jackson is based on flimsy circumstantial evidence. In cases where Jackson's DNA was detected, police also found multiple other male DNA profiles in more incriminating locations at some of the scenes, his lawyer said.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of aggravated murder in the killings of Essie Jackson, 23, Harry, 19, Anderson, 14, and Watts, 29. Watts was killed in March 1987.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael A. Greenlick said he wanted to view the full videotaped interview with Jackson and the transcript before making a ruling but anticipates issuing a decision next week.

If the indictments aren't dismissed, Jackson's lawyers signaled they plan to file a motion asking the court to suppress Jackson's statements to police and would call national experts to testify about the "coercive'' police interrogation tactics and Jackson's susceptibility. Jackson told court officials he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.

Jackson, who remains in custody, sat between his two defense lawyers. Jackson's mother and sister, as well as relatives of the women killed, quietly watched from the courtroom gallery.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian