A trial date is set for a Polk County man accused of killing his wife.
The I-Team got exclusive audio recordings of his interrogation with deputies.
Michael Finn was charged with murder about a year ago.
Kristen, a mother of three, was chased down and stabbed at least 11 times, according to court documents obtained by the I-Team. It happened in a field near their Lakeland home.
In an interview with Polk County Sheriff's detectives, Finn says why he stabbed his wife Kristen.
"All I remember is going crazy and chasing her down," he says. "I just wanted her to stop punishing us."
The attack occurred in broad daylight. One of the children tells police she saw Finn chase her stepmom down and then he started stabbing her.
Kristen was on her cellphone talking to a 911 operator during the attack. Hours after, detectives recorded their interview with Michael.
Detective: What was your intention?
Finn: I wanted her to know that she wasn't god.
Detective: Did you want to hurt her?
Finn: All I wanted was for her to understand that she was not in charge of me. Her mom was not in charge of me. Her dad was not in charge of me and that they needed to leave me alone.
Detective: And you felt like getting a knife was going to do that?
Finn: To some degree.
The interrogation gets bizarre when Finn talks about being an Army Ranger, a special forces unit for the Army.
Finn: I didn't try to hit any vital organs
Detective: What does that mean?
Finn: I'm an Army Ranger. I'm trained to kill. I know where to strike.
Detective: So where were you trying to strike?
Finn: Positions in her back where they could easily repair.
Here's how Finn responds after the detective told him his wife was dead.
Finn: Is my wife dead?
Detective: Yes. OK.
Finn: May I have a blanket?
After prosecutors charged Finn, the I-Team revealed he has a criminal and domestic violence history. In fact, Finn was reportedly on probation at the time of Kristen's murder.
Deputies said he previously threatened to kill her stating he was going to "stab the victim to death" and she "deserves to be mutilated and tortured until she dies."
Reports show he told his wife and a deputy when he gets out of the mental ward he's going to "cut her up and disfigure the victim so that the children have to look at her disfigurement every day."
Finn's trial date has been set for Aug. 29.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
