a judge rejected the jury's call for a sentence of life without parole and sentenced Kerry Spencer, 25, to death

a judge rejected the jury's call for a sentence of life without parole and sentenced Kerry Spencer, 25, to death for the murders of 3 police officers gunned down as they entered a rundown crack house. Circuit Judge Tommy Nail said the horrors of his crime outweighed the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment without parole. Carlos Owen, 58, Harley Chisholm III, 40, and Charles Robert Bennett, 33, were shot to death on June 17, 2004. 
Jurors convicted Spencer of capital murder in June, but they voted to recommend a sentence of life without parole. Spencer confessed to killing the officers.