Two weeks after pleading guilty to a Cobb County homicide, the same suspect avoided the death penalty Wednesday by pleading guilty, but mentally ill, to a double homicide in Gwinnett County.
For all three murders, 31-year-old Rickey Earl Taylor was sentenced to four life sentences, two of which are without the possibility of parole, Channel 2 Action News reported.
All three homicides took place in 2016, and prosecutors said they happened during a string of assaults, robberies and home invasions Taylor committed.
Taylor admitted to torturing and murdering 61-year-old Nicola Sramek and her son James Sramek, 26, in August 2016, Channel 2 reported. Prosecutors believe he was looking for food and money when he broke into their apartment.
The two victims had been stabbed, beaten and tortured, but their wounds were also wrapped with tape, prosecutor Dan Mayfield told Channel 2.
“These wounds were wrapped with tape, apparently to keep (them) alive for torture purposes,” Mayfield said.
RELATED: Police: Gwinnett mother, son were tortured
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
A month earlier, Taylor tied up a man in his Marietta apartment before beating him to death, AJC.com previously reported. Police found the body of Richard Olen Bell, who had his wrists and ankles tied behind his back. An autopsy found that he died from blunt force trauma to the head.
MORE: Man pleads guilty, but mentally ill, to 2016 Cobb beating death
Taylor was tied to the crime after investigators found cellphone records that showed he exchanged about 50 calls and text messages with Bell on the day he was killed. Taylor's DNA was also found on the bindings used to tie Bell's wrists and ankles.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans previously said Taylor is “one of the most sadistic criminals I’ve prosecuted during my career.” He also said Taylor showcased a level of depravity that is “virtually unspeakable.”
Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty in Gwinnett County.
When Taylor pleaded guilty in court Wednesday, his attorney apologized to the victims’ families on his behalf, Channel 2 reported.
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