Killer Ruled Sane; Death Penalty Possible
NAPA, Calif. — A jury ruled Monday that a man who shot up a high school, killing his former teacher and three students, was sane at the time, clearing the way for a possible death sentence.
Eric Houston, 22, was armed with a shotgun and sawed-off rifle when he strode onto a high school campus in Olivehurst in May, 1992. The teacher he killed, Robert Brens, 28, had given him a failing grade that kept him from graduating.
Houston was convicted last month on four counts of murder.
Monday’s ruling means Superior Court Judge W. Scott Snowden has the option of sentencing him to death or to life in prison without parole.
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