California mass killer spared death sentence

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California mass killer will be spared the death penalty amid a long-running scandal over local authorities' use of jailhouse informants, a judge decided Friday.

Judge Thomas M. Goethals said Scott Dekraai would not be sentenced to death after pleading guilty to killing eight people in a 2011 shooting rampage at an Orange County hair salon.

The ruling leaves only the possibility that Dekraai, 47, will be sentenced to life in prison.

It's rare for a judge to bar prosecutors from seeking a death sentence. While acknowledging the "horrendous" nature of Dekraai's crime, Goethals found that failures by the prosecution team would prevent a fair penalty phase of the trial.