Dylann Roof Pleads Guilty to State Murder Charges

He'll now await execution in federal case
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 10, 2017 2:24 PM CDT
Dylann Roof Pleads Guilty to State Murder Charges
Dylann Roof enters the court room at the Charleston County Judicial Center Monday, April 10, 2017, to enter his guilty plea on murder charges in Charleston, SC.   (Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof has been given nine life sentences for the 2015 massacre at Emanuel AME Church in exchange for his guilty plea in state court, the AP reports. The plea entered Monday by the self-avowed white supremacist marks the end of his court cases and signals his departure for the federal prison system, where he'll await execution. The deal with state prosecutors spared his victims and their families the burden of a second trial. The 23-year-old Roof was sentenced to death earlier this year on 33 federal crimes. He was unapologetic during that trial as he listened to survivors and relatives describe the hail of bullets that began when parishioners closed their eyes to pray during a June 2015 Bible study at the historically black Emanuel AME Church. (More Dylann Roof stories.)

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