LOS ANGELES, Jan. 24 (JTA) A white supremacist has pleaded guilty to seriously wounding five people in a shooting rampage at a local Jewish community center and murdering a Filipino American mail carrier in August 1999.
In a deal with prosecutors, Buford O. Furrow Jr., 39, is to receive a mandatory life prison sentence, but as a result of Wednesday’s plea, he will be spared a possible death sentence.
Federal prosecutors and public defenders concluded separately that Furrow suffers from serious psychiatric problems, the Los Angeles Times reported.
During his Aug. 10, 1999, attack on the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, Calif., Furrow sprayed the lobby with 70 bullets, wounding an adult, a teenager and three young boys.
He subsequently killed mail carrier Joseph Ileto.
Victims of the Jewish center attack and their families were not immediately available for comment.
Furrow is a follower of the Aryan Nations, a racist and anti-Semitic hate group.
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