(August 22, 2011,OAKLAND) -- Convicted triple-murderer Asmerom Gebreselassie was sent to prison for the rest of his life Monday but not before directing a final, racist-tinged outburst toward Superior Court Judge Vernon Nakahara.
Gebreselassie, who had been removed from court several times for outbursts during his four-month-long, triple-murder trial, continued his rambunctious ways Monday as Nakahara began to issue the multiple life-without-parole sentences against the native of Eritrea.
"You know who is evil? You're evil. You're a criminal. Go back to Japan," Gebreselassie shouted as Nakahara, who has never been to Japan, smiled. "You're an insult to our criminal justice system. This is not Japan; this is the United States."
Gebreselassie, 47, was found guilty earlier this year of killing his sister-in-law, her brother and her mother during a 2006 Thanksgiving Day massacre that was sparked, a prosecutor said, by Gebreselassie's mistaken belief that the in-laws killed his older brother. Gebreselassie's belief was based on the sudden death of Abraham Gebreselassie, 42, who died in his bed in March 2006 in what a pathologist later determined was an unexplained natural death.
Asmerom Gebreselassie and his brother Tewodros, 43, however, never thought the death was natural and instead convinced themselves that Abraham died of poisoning by their in-laws who the Gebreselassie brothers said were after a $500,000 life insurance policy.
The brothers acted on that plan on Thanksgiving Day 2006 when Tewodros helped Asmerom gain entry into their in-laws' apartment. Asmerom began firing a handgun, killing his sister-in-law Winta Mehari, 28; her mother, Regbe Bahrengasi, 50; and Mehari's brother Yonas, 17. Tewodros Gebreselassie also was found guilty of the murders and is expected to be given multiple life-without-parole sentences later this month. Read More from http://www.insidebayarea.com »
"You know who is evil? You're evil. You're a criminal. Go back to Japan," Gebreselassie shouted as Nakahara, who has never been to Japan, smiled. "You're an insult to our criminal justice system. This is not Japan; this is the United States."
Gebreselassie, 47, was found guilty earlier this year of killing his sister-in-law, her brother and her mother during a 2006 Thanksgiving Day massacre that was sparked, a prosecutor said, by Gebreselassie's mistaken belief that the in-laws killed his older brother. Gebreselassie's belief was based on the sudden death of Abraham Gebreselassie, 42, who died in his bed in March 2006 in what a pathologist later determined was an unexplained natural death.
Asmerom Gebreselassie and his brother Tewodros, 43, however, never thought the death was natural and instead convinced themselves that Abraham died of poisoning by their in-laws who the Gebreselassie brothers said were after a $500,000 life insurance policy.
The brothers acted on that plan on Thanksgiving Day 2006 when Tewodros helped Asmerom gain entry into their in-laws' apartment. Asmerom began firing a handgun, killing his sister-in-law Winta Mehari, 28; her mother, Regbe Bahrengasi, 50; and Mehari's brother Yonas, 17. Tewodros Gebreselassie also was found guilty of the murders and is expected to be given multiple life-without-parole sentences later this month. Read More from http://www.insidebayarea.com »
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