THE SOPRANOS - BRANCATO JR: 'I AM NOT A MONSTER'

Former THE SOPRANOS actor LILLO BRANCATO JR. insists he was not responsible for shooting a New York City police officer dead in December 2005. Brancato Jr. and his co-defendant STEVEN ARMENTO are charged with second-degree murder, burglary and weapon possession. Armento, 48, who is accused of firing the fatal bullet, is also charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the killing of off-duty Officer DANIEL ENCHAUTEGUI. But, in a jail interview that aired in the US yesterday (22FEB07), 30-year-old Brancato Jr. said, "I'm not the monster that they portray me as in newspapers, a cold-blooded killer and all of that. I'm not that person at all. "I know in my heart I was in no way responsible for the death of that police officer."