Christopher Speight Sentencing: Virginia Man Pleads Guilty To Killing 8 [Video]

Christopher Speight, a Virginia man accused of killing eight people at an Appomattox home in 2010, was sentenced to five life terms in prison Friday.

Speight, a 42-year-old former security guard, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of capital murder, after he gunned down his sister Lauralee Sipe and her husband, Dwayne Sipe, both 38, and their 4-year-old son Joshua.

Following the shootings, Speight told investigators that an Egyptian princess named Jennifer told him to shoot his family because they were possessed by demons.

Two different reports found by two different psychiatrists found him mentally insane at the time of the offense.

In addition to shooting his family, Speights killed five other neighbors and friends that showed up at the Sipe’s home.

Speight said he shot the other victims because “he was afraid they were going to help the dead people and their bodies had to rot so their bodies could be used to attack humans.”

The Associated Press notes that five months after the shootings, a judge sent Speight to a state mental hospital for treatment after a psychologist found the defendant was too mentally ill to assist his lawyers or stand trial.

The case remained on hold for the next couple of years as attorneys dealt with pretrial motions and awaited additional mental evaluations.

In addition to the capital murder charges, Speight also plead guilty to attempted capital murder of a Virginia State Police helicopter pilot. Speight fired a weapon at the helicopter as police searched for him following the January 2010 shootings.

ABC 13 looks back on the tragic 2012 Appomattox shootings in the video below:

via ABC News