Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley imposed the death sentence on convicted murderer Lawrence Rice on Wednesday.

Jurors deliberated over what sentence to mete out -- death or life with or without the possibility of parole -- about seven hours over two days.

Eight jurors returned to hear the verdict, sitting in the back row of a courtroom packed with friends and family of Rice's victims. They left without commenting.

Rice did not say anything. He had changed from the gray suit he wore at trial to an orange jail jumpsuit.

"May God have mercy upon your soul," Staley said after imposing the sentence.

On Monday, the jurors convicted Rice of two counts each of murder and felony murder in the deaths of Connie Mincher and her 14-year-old son, Ethan, on April 17, 2003 in their east Cobb home. They also convicted Rice of burglary and Staley imposed a 20-year sentence on him for that crime.

After the sentence Connie Mincher's brother, Damon Sticher, read a statement on the courthouse steps.

"The guilty verdict is the verdict that we were hoping and praying for," Sticher, 57, of Douglasville, read. "And we realize that there are no winners here today. The verdict will not bring Connie and Ethan back to us and the defendant has lost his freedom. This has been a long, hard five years for us. And we've learned you have to have strong friends, strong family and strong faith to get you through times like these."

Sticher thanked the jurors for their decision and Cobb police, prosecutors, the medical examiner and the emergency personnel and "anyone that's touched this case. We just want you to know that you've touched our hearts."

Marlee Mincher, who found the bodies of her mother and brother, declined to speak to reporters. She was 12 years old when they died.

Rice had worked for Trevor Mincher, Connie's husband, at an Atlanta video company, Video Tape Associates or VTA, in 1990. Rice resigned from the company after a few months when he learned someone else earned more money than he did.

After that Rice was unable to find steady work. Eventually, Rice lost his condo.

Rice was evicted from a rental apartment and was living out of his Mercedes Benz when police picked him up the day after the murders.

Van Pearlberg, the deputy chief assistant district attorney, said it was a "very emotional case."

Trevor Mincher died in March 2005, shortly after giving a videotaped deposition about Rice.

Police never found the murder weapon. But Medical Examiner Brian Frist said the mother and son died of blunt force trauma. So Pearlberg bought a hatchet and duct tape at Big Lots to help illustrate how the mother and son were bound and beaten before their deaths.

During closing arguments Pearlberg banged the hatchet to drive home his point that Rice had shown no mercy to the victims.

The most damning evidence against Rice were his own words in a document titled "Culture Shock."

Detectives retrieved the 138-page, single-spaced text on Rice's computer after his arrest.

As his professional and financial life unraveled, Rice turned his anger on Trevor Mincher and his family.

Cobb police Sgt. James Benson, read from "Culture Shock" during the trial.

" 'The Mincher family is finished,'" Benson read.

In it, Rice railed against Trevor Mincher, his family and Ken Chambliss, the owner of the video company.

He labeled them as racists and bigots.

Rice is black. The Mincher family is white.

" 'I am not going to lie down and die,'" Benson continued reading from the document.

"In my mind there is not a shadow of doubt that Trevor Mincher is the core reason for my suffering. ... Furthermore I am confident that his wife has full knowledge of all that has transpired,' " he wrote in November 1995.

Rice compared himself to Colin Ferguson, who shot up a Long Island Rail Road car on Dec. 7, 1993. Ferguson killed six people and wounded 19. Ferguson was sentenced to life in prison.

Ferguson's error was that he " 'lost sight of who was primarily responsible for his predicament,'" Benson read in the hushed courtroom during the trial.

" 'And in his frustration he simply lashed out at those who were most convenient. Trevor Mincher will not be so lucky.' "

Staff researcher Sharon Gaus contributed to this report.