By JANE SIMS AND JENNIFER O'BRIEN, SUN MEDIA
Jesse Imeson is led into court yesterday in Goderich, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in the killings that sowed terror in several communities in July 2007. (Susan Bradnam/Sun Media)
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'Shots were fired, people died' GODERICH -- There was rage in his eyes.
Convicted mass murderer Jesse Imeson, sitting in the tiny prisoner's box with his wrists and legs shackled, was clearly agitated after he listened to eight emotionally wrenching accounts of what his actions did to his victims' loved ones.
By the time Kelli Rathwell, a granddaughter of Bill and Helene Regier, was finishing up the ninth statement, it was clear Imeson had had enough.
"Please know that you have done our family no favours on this day," Rathwell said tersely. "But always remember, although you did not listen to the plea of our beautiful grandparents for their life, their family have listened to yours."
EMOTIONAL DAY
It was a heart-stopping moment during an emotional day in the packed courtroom where Imeson pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carlos Rivera, 25, of Windsor, and Bill and Helene Regier, 72 and 73, of Mount Carmel, in July 2007.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years for the killings the judge called "savage and senseless."
The guilty pleas were the result of months of plea bargaining between the Crown and the defence to bring the case to a quick conclusion.