Man accused of killing two babies in fire says 'I did something stupid' on recorded jailhouse call

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno County jury heard from Filimon Hurtado, an accused double murderer and arsonist, in his own words on Wednesday as prosecutors played a recorded jailhouse call.

Action News cannot replay the recording but can report parts of the transcript.

"I made a mistake," Hurtado said from the Fresno County Jail. "I did something stupid."

"There's no coming back from that," Hurtado's father replied. "The little babies are gone ... I don't know what the hell you were thinking ... You crossed the line," the father said.

Hurtado asked, "Do you hate me?"

"You're a young guy, and you just threw it all away," his father answered in part.

"Is that a true and accurate jail call that you pulled corresponding to a conversation with the defendant and his father that took place on or about July 16th, 2022?" prosecutor Daniel Walters asked the investigator on the stand. "Yes," Danielle Isaac, a Fresno County District Attorney's Office investigator, said.

Prosecutors say Hurtado set fire to a family home in west central Fresno in May of 2022. The fire killed Hurtado's 1-year-old niece and 5-month-old nephew.

"The fire - where the children are, everything looks black," Fresno Fire Department investigator Nathan Dansby said. "Even with the children on it, the mattress is black."

The fire also injured the children's mother. She was covered in flames as she ran across the street to get help from a neighbor.

Hurtado has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder and arson. His public defenders say Hurtado was insane and off his meds for bipolar disorder during the spring of 2022 when he set the deadly fire.

On Wednesday, Hurtado's attorneys pressed investigator Isaac on how much the recorded phone call actually reveals about Hurtado.

"In reviewing this phone call, who would you say who is doing most of the talking?" public defender Roy Park asked. "Probably the father," Isaac said.

"And most of Filimon's responses are kind of the word, 'yeah'?" Park asked. "Yes," Isaac answered.

Wednesday marked the second time prosecutors have used Hurtado's words in court.

On Tuesday, jurors heard Hurtado describe being "abducted," "cloned," and "teleported" in a video he posted to YouTube one day before the fire.

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