Gunman in California salon massacre jailed for life
LOS ANGELES: A gunman who massacred eight people at a packed hair salon in a small California beach town six years ago was sentenced to life without parole.
Scott Dekraai opened fire at the Salon Meritage in Seal Beach, south of Los Angeles, in October 2011, killing ex-wife Michelle and her friend, who had testified against him at a custody hearing, as well as six others.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals handed the 47-yearold eight consecutive life sentences — one for each victim — describing him as the ‘face of evil’ in the community.
Dekraai was facing execution but Goethals removed capital punishment as an option following allegations over the misuse of informants in the county jail system.
During an emotional sentencing hearing, relatives of Dekraai’s victims repeatedly lashed out and insulted the bespectacled defendant.
Given a chance to speak, Dekraai said he wished he could “turn back the hands of time” and claimed that he had been “waiting a long time to apologize.”
He also apologised to his son “as a father and as a role model ... I was wrong for what I did. I’m totally to blame for my total loss of self-control.”
Dekraai admitted his crimes more than three years ago, amid allegations that his rights had been violated by a jailhouse informant who heard him make damning comments about the murder spree. — AFP