A jury recommended the death penalty for Justin Helzer,...

A jury recommended the death penalty for Justin Helzer, 32, in the deaths of 3 people. The jury also recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole for Helzer's role in the deaths of 2 other people. Those murders were committed by his brother and a friend, both of whom pleaded guilty. Helzer had interrupted his trial to say he wanted to die. Judge Mary Ann O'Malley will formally sentence Helzer on Sept. 24. Helzer, his older brother Glenn and a friend, Dawn Godman, killed five people during the crime spree in the summer of 2000. The killings of Selina Bishop, her mother, Jennifer Villarin, her mother's boyfriend, James Gamble, and Ivan and Annette Stineman, were part of an extortion scheme to earn money for a self-awareness group the Helzers said would hasten Christ's return to Earth. The bodies of Bishop and the Stinemans were sawed up and stuffed into gym bags, their jaws removed to prevent identification, and the bags were thrown into the Mokelumme river. Glenn Helzer already pleaded guilty and faces the death penalty. His sentencing phase will begin this fall. Godman also pleaded guilty and testified against Justin Helzer in exchange for a lengthy prison sentence. The formal sentencing by OMalley will occur in a month. Also to be sentenced are Justins brother Glenn Taylor Helzer, 35, and their housemate Dawn Godman, who will receive 38 years to life in exchange for testifying against Justin.