Craig Stephen Hicks, 50, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder more than four years after the slayings of three Muslim university students.
Authorities later indicated they did not have sufficient evidence to successfully prosecute Hicks on hate crime charges, said Joe Cheshire, an attorney for the victims’ families. He said officials couldn't overcome Hicks' initial explanation that the violence was provoked by a parking space dispute.
That account was contradicted by a cellphone video, shown in court, in which Barakat records his own death. The phone dropped. The sounds of women screaming can be heard, followed by several more shots. Then silence. Hicks said in his confession that after the women fell wounded, he shot both in the head at close range. Autopsy results confirmed his description.
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