BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Wearing orange jailhouse garb, Guy Heinze Jr. bowed his head as a judge sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for the 2009 beating deaths of his father and seven others. A quirk of legal maneuvering spared Heinze from a possible death sentence.
The 26-year-old was sentenced Thursday in a Georgia courtroom days after a jury convicted him of malice murder in the Aug. 29, 2009, slayings. Prosecutors dropped the death penalty as an option last week in a deal with defense attorneys that allowed them to avoid a hung jury.
Prosecutors say Heinze had been smoking crack cocaine when he killed his victims. All lived in a mobile home. Defense lawyers insisted Heinze is innocent.
Victims' relatives said they never wanted to see Heinze executed.
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