Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape doesn't flinch as he rewatches grim footage of himself attacking former House Speaker's 82 year-old husband with hammer, as trial begins

The man accused of bludgeoning Paul Pelosi did not flinch while watching back the police body camera footage off the hammer attack during his trial.

David DePape, a former nudist from Canada, entered the Pelosi home through a back door in the early hours of October 28, 2022, and bludgeoned Paul Pelosi, putting him in the hospital.

On Monday, he watched without flinching as prosecutors played the police body camera footage of the attack, reporters inside the courtroom said. 

DePape calmly sat with two defense lawyers at table on left, as prosecutors called witnesses laying out the case. 

He sat back in brown leather chair, crossed arms, observing the testimony. He wore a blue sweater over blue button down, clean shaven, hair pulled back into a pony tail. 

A court sketch shows DePape listening to an official from Spokeo, a people search website, testify about his search history.

Jason Matthes, who works for Spokeo, testified briefly that he searched for Pelosi’s home as well as other sites in Hollywood and Sacramento before the attack. 

Stephanie Minor, FBI special agent, testified that there were about 50 video surveillance cameras capturing DePape’s chilling trip to carry out the hammer attack.

He’s seen hauling two backpacks and the sleeping bag, later recovered by authorities.

One shows multiple camera angles of him going through the turnstile at the Bay Area Rapid Transit station at El Cerrito Plaza. Some of the time stamps are off, in some cases, because the surveillance cameras were not updated to daylight savings.

Other footage shows DePape, wearing a long sleeve top and cargo shorts, boarding a train at the station before it sped off, then sitting inside with his feet propped on his bag. 

He’s then seen standing on a platform at MacArthur Station waiting for a transfer, boarding another train to Civic Center/UN Plaza, taking the ride, arriving at the station.

He’s then seen boarding a San Francisco Muni bus, and later exiting at North Point Street and Van Ness Avenue.

U.S. Capitol police video footage shows DePape, appearing as a shadowy figure, walking briskly on a sidewalk toward the Pelosi residence, then in clearer view entering through a gate and stepping around back to the rear patio.

He’s then seen using an object to repeatedly bash a glass window to break into the property.

Paul Pelosi is scheduled to testify in the trial and will recount the night the man broke into his San Francisco home and fractured his skull. 

Prosecutors said DePape previously admitted to breaking into the residence with the intention of getting the senior Democrat to acknowledge her party's 'lies' or he would smash her kneecaps.

When he found only her then-82-year-old husband at home, he engaged in what he told officers was a 'pretty amicable' exchange, during which Paul Pelosi managed to call for help.

DePape has pleaded not guilty to breaking and entering and attempted murder charges, and a federal trial is underway. 

He has struggled with drugs and posts crazed COVID conspiracy theories, anti-Semitic rants, racist slurs and unhinged screeds about religion online. 

In opening statements, defense attorney Jodi Linker said she won't dispute that her client attacked Paul Pelosi, an encounter caught on police body camera video.

In the footage, DePape can apparently be seen bludgeoning Pelosi with a hammer before officers rush at him and take the weapon away.

Pelosi was knocked unconscious and spent almost a week in hospital, where he underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture.

Instead, his attorney will argue that he believed 'with every ounce of his being' that he was taking action to stop government corruption and the abuse of children by politicians and actors. 

Linker's argument is that DePape is not guilty of the charges because he was not after Nancy Pelosi to try to stop her from engaging in her official duties.

'These beliefs matter because both charges require that the government prove that Mr. DePape acted because of her performance of her official duties as a member of Congress,' Linker said.

She said DePape's beliefs are 'wholly unrelated to Nancy Pelosi's official duties.'

When police arrested DePape, they found a manifesto that contained antigovernmental beliefs and a list of other politicians he planned to target.

He has posted rants on a blog and an online forum about aliens, communists, religious minorities and global elites.

He questioned the results of the 2020 election and echoed the baseless, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles. The websites were taken down shortly after his arrest.

He also has pleaded not guilty to charges in state court of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary and other felonies.

A state trial has not been scheduled.