Cho Seung-Hui said Monday's massacre on the Virginia Tech campus could have been avoided and said "you forced me into a corner," in a videotaped message he mailed to NBC News.
NBC News reported that Cho mailed the package at 9:01 a.m. Monday -- during the two hours between the shootings at the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory and the shootings at Norris Hall.
"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today," Cho said in one of the videos that aired Wednesday night on NBC. "But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." (Watch Cho's menacing last messages )
In another video broadcast on NBC, Cho told the camera "When the time came I did it, I had to."
Cho spoke about the shootings in the past tense, but it is unclear when the video messages were recorded.
MSNBC.com reported that Cho also discussed "martyrs like Eric and Dylan" apparently referring to Columbine High School gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people and themselves on April 20, 1999.
Cho railed against the wealthy and other unnamed enemies in the angry messages.
"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac weren't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything," MSNBC.com quoted Cho as saying.
The package included an 1,800 word statement described as "a manifesto" and 27 QuickTime videos showing Cho Seung-Hui talking to the camera and discussing religion and his hatred of the wealthy, MSNBC.com reported. (Interactive: Cho's manifesto)
It also included several photographs of Cho posing and pointing handguns at the camera.
At least one photograph showed Cho pointing a pistol at his head. Another showed Cho holding a knife to his throat.
The package was sent by overnight mail, but did not arrive until Wednesday because the address and Zip code were wrong.
"This may be a very new critical component of this investigation," State Police Col. Steve Flaherty said.
When the network received the package, it immediately notified authorities and the original documents were sent to the FBI for analysis, Flaherty said.
CNN also learned Wednesday that in 2005 Cho was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice, who declared he was "an imminent danger" to himself, a court document states.
A temporary detention order from General District Court in the commonwealth of Virginia said Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness."
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