Jury: Campus Shooter Should Get Life

CLEVELAND – A jury Sunday recommended life in prison without parole for a former graduate student who fatally shot another student and wounded two others during a seven-hour siege at Case Western Reserve University.

Biswanath Halder was convicted last month of killing Norman Wallace during the 2003 shooting spree and standoff.

He could have received the death penalty, but the jury rejected the ultimate sentence during two days of deliberations. A judge was expected to formally sentence Halder later Sunday.

Psychologists had testified that Halder is sane but delusional, and his attorneys argued that the 65-year-old's life should be spared because he is mentally ill.

Halder, originally from Calcutta, India, attacked the school armed with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition because he believed a school computer lab employee hacked into his Web site devoted to helping fellow India natives form businesses, prosecutors say.

He didn't testify during the trial. But on Saturday, as Judge Peggy Foley Jones had begun giving the jurors sentencing instructions, he stood up and said he wanted to speak to the judge.

In a handwritten letter, Halder told the judge he had wanted to take the stand but his lawyers objected. Jones said he had given her the letter too late in the trial.