RICHMOND, Texas -- A son's plot to kill his family was not the first, a detective testified in a capital murder trial Tuesday, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The detective took the stand in the trial of Bart Whitaker, who is charged with capital murder in connection with the death of his mother, Patricia, and his brother, Kevin, in December 2003. Bart Whitaker and his father, Kent, were wounded in the shooting.

Prosecutors said that Whitaker plotted to kill his family several times, including in December 2000.

Tuesday's testimony focused on cell phone calls between Whitaker and co-conspirators in the past.

Recorded phone conversations were played between Whitaker and an old high school friend named Adam Hipp.

Police said Hipp came forward days after the Whitaker family was ambushed and agreed to let detectives record a conversation.

Hipp: "How your mom and brother were killed and how your dad and you were shot -- all that was, you know, not necessarily identical, but very similar to what one of our plans were like."

Whitaker: "Adam, stop saying that."

In that phone call, Whitaker expressed concern that they were being recorded. But an earlier conversation was as follows.

Hipp: "Bart, you and I both know that you are probably one of the very few people that could do this and pull it off and not get caught for it."

Whitaker: "They (the police) don't need to know that."

Police said that in one of the past plots, officers were tipped off and went to the Whitakers' home to warn the parents. Kent Whitaker said he thought nothing of it because Bart claimed police had it all wrong and the case was dropped.

The detective also told jurors that one day after the killings, Whitaker told him that he was a Sam Houston State University student and interested in becoming a detective.

The detective said Whitaker also told him that he had applied for an internship with the FBI. None of Whitaker's claims were true, the detective said.

Jurors also watched a videotaped reenactment of Whitaker inside his parents' home, demonstrating where he was standing when he was shot.

Prosecutors said Whitaker hoped to inherit $1 million from his family's deaths. He could face the death penalty if he is convicted.

Kent Whitaker testified on Monday. He told the jury that he knows his son his guilty but that Bart Whitaker told him he was sorry for everything.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Whitaker's defense attorney has not been arguing that his client is innocent. Instead, he is focusing on Whitaker not deserving the death penalty.

Whitaker's friends, Chris Brashear and Steven Champagne, were also charged in connection with the killings. Champagne has agreed to a plea bargain in which he will testify against Whitaker and Brashear, the alleged shooter, in exchange for a 15-year prison sentence.

Whitaker was arrested in Mexico in September 2005.