Murderer gets double life, plus another hundred in the pen
Man, there's no let-up in stories today...
Robert Joel Wheeler's crazy shooting spree landed him in prison for a very long, long time.
SAN FERNANDO - Robert Joel Wheeler's shooting spree that left a sex shop clerk dead and two men seriously wounded got him two life sentences in prison, plus an additional 100 years, when a judge sentenced him today.
On New Year's Day 2005, the 28-year-old Oregon man browsed Santa Clarita Gifts in Canyon Country, picked out an item, and shot Christopher Simons in the face with a rifle. Fifteen minutes later, Wheeler came back and killed the seriously wounded Simons with a second shot.
He then took a tour of Santa Clarita, shooting Randall Price twice in the back behind an Albertsons supermarket. Wheeler then continued onto Alan Stearns' house, where he attempted to break in.
When Stearns chased after him to take down the license number of his van, Wheeler shot the homeowner once in the back. He drove around for awhile, ran out of gas and called 911, which led sheriff's deputies to arrest him.
He pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to one count of first-degree murder and two of attempted murder, also admitting to the use of a firearm allegations.
After hearing from Simons' parents and Stearns, Judge Ronald S. Coen gave Wheeler close to the maximum sentence. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and Wheeler did not plead guilty to special circumstances that would have made him eligible for life without possiblity of parole.
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