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California man gets life in prison for killing couple

Gallon didn't know the couple, who were on a sightseeing trip, authorities said.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing an engaged couple from the Midwest while they were camping on a Northern California beach in 2004.

Judge Robert LaForge of Sonoma County Superior Court sentenced Shaun Michael Gallon, 40, Monday to three consecutive life terms in prison without parole. Gallon also received more than 94 years in prison for other crimes, the Press Democrat reported .

Gallon shot and killed Lindsay Cutshall, 22, of Ohio and Jason Allen, 26, of Michigan in 2004 while they were sleeping on a secluded beach in Jenner, California, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of San Francisco, authorities said. The case remained cold for more than a decade until police identified him as a suspect in 2017, when he was arrested in his brother's killing.

Gallon didn't know the couple, who were on a sightseeing trip, authorities said.

Last month, Gallon admitted to the killings and other crimes, including killing his brother Shamus Gallon and a 2004 bombing intended for a man he once fought with at a Guerneville bar but instead maimed the man's wife.

"It's crystal clear to me you deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison and then some," LaForge said.

At an emotional, more than two-hour hearing before the sentencing, Cutshall's parents shared how their faith helped them through the loss of their daughter. They also read a letter written by Allen's parents.

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