SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Scott Dekraai, the man charged with the worst mass killing in Orange County’s history, pleaded guilty Friday to eight counts of murder.
Dekraai, a 44-year-old former tugboat operator from Huntington Beach, fatally shot his ex-wife and seven others at Salon Meritage in Seal Beach in 2011.
READ MORE: LA Expands Eligibility At Vaccination Sites Starting Monday“Two-and-half years later, to finally sit in the courtroom and hear him admit guilt, its reality again all over for me,” Paul Wilson, a victim’s husband, said.
Defense lawyer Scott Sanders told an Orange County court during a hearing Monday that his client would enter the plea to spare the victims’ families from enduring a trial.
The plea clears the way for his defense attorney to focus on an evidentiary hearing.
READ MORE: Man In His Mid 30s Fatally Shot In CarsonDefense attorneys allege widespread governmental misconduct in how investigators collected evidence with the help of jailhouse snitches.
A jury will decide whether to sentence Dekraai to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole at a later date.
“Today’s been one of the best days I’ve been here. I think the only thing that could top is hearing the judge say he’s getting the death penalty, and I will be there,” Butch Fournier, the brother of a victim, said.
MORE NEWS: 2 Riverside Co. Sheriff's Deputies Recovering After Being Hit By Delivery Van; 2 Pedestrians KilledDekraai’s trial was scheduled to start June 9.