Convicted murderer John K. Lorenzo Jr. yesterday said he wants to apologize to the family of the state deputy sheriff he gunned down last year and admitted he shot the man in a Honolulu night spot.

In an interview with The Advertiser during a break in a sentencing hearing yesterday, Lorenzo said he knows what he did was wrong and that he is sorry for the loss suffered by the family of state Deputy Sheriff Daniel Browne-Sanchez.

"I admit my mistake, and despite all that was said through the trial, I know, inside myself, there is no excuse for my actions. I feel badly and I am sorry," Lorenzo told the Advertiser.

"It (the murder) made me realize a lot of things. The way I was living my life prior to this was selfish and wrong. I'm just so sorry for the (family's) loss."

After deliberating for six days, a Circuit Court jury found Lorenzo guilty of murdering Browne-Sanchez during a botched nightclub robbery Feb. 10.

The panel also found Lorenzo guilty of kidnapping and weapons offenses, but acquitted him of an armed robbery charge and reduced another charge from attempted second-degree murder to reckless endangerment.

Lorenzo, 32, faces a maximum term of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

The jury that convicted Lorenzo last month now is deliberating whether Lorenzo should receive an "extended sentence" of life without the possibility of parole.

After hearing closing arguments in the sentencing proceedings yesterday, the jury is set to decide Lorenzo's fate. In court yesterday, Lorenzo declined to testify because Browne-Sanchez's family was not present.

But in an interview, with his lawyer present, he said his only reason for wanting to testify was to apologize to the family, who did not attend yesterday's hearing.

The normal sentence for a conviction of second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole.

The case is the first time a Hawai'i jury rather than a judge will decide whether an extended sentence is warranted by the circumstances of the case or the felon's previous record.

After returning the guilty verdict in November, the Lorenzo jury was instructed by Circuit Judge Karl K. Sakamoto to return to court for the additional sentencing hearing.

For more than a month, the jurors have been unable to discuss the case with others and have been under orders to avoid reading, watching or seeing news accounts of the case.

During the trial, Lorenzo's lawyer argued that his client owed a drug debt to "two thugs" who told Lorenzo the debt would be forgiven if he went into Osake Sushi Bar and Lounge and fired several rounds from the gun to scare employees there.

The two thugs supplied the gun, bullet-resistant vest and mask that Lorenzo used during the crime, the lawyer argued.

But a jury agreed with the prosecution, which said Lorenzo killed the off-duty deputy during an attempted robbery.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.