JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man accused of killing seven women and convicted of one murder was sent to Florida's death row on Thursday.
Paul Durousseau was convicted in June of the rape and slaying of 24-year-old Tyresa Mack in 1999. The same jury voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty.
Durousseau's attorneys argued that his life should be spared because he suffers from brain damage and other mental illnesses that impaired his behavior. But prosecutors said Durousseau was well aware of what he did when he killed the woman and deserved the death penalty.
On Thursday, Judge Jack Schemer formally sentenced Durousseau to death by lethal injection.
"This was a consciously hideous crime," Schemer said from the bench. "Durousseau is manipulative, devious and crafty."
Schemer said the brutality of the slaying was among the reasons why he agreed with the jury's recommendation that Durousseau should die.
Durousseau was arrested in 2003 and is charged in the deaths of Mack and five other women in Duval County. He is also accused of killing a woman in Columbus, Ga., while he was in the Army and stationed at Fort Benning stationed in 1997.
Mack's family said it has waited eight years to hear their loved one's killer would die for his crime.
"Thank God it's all over with. We have a closure. Me and my family, we have been through a lot, including her kids. Thank God it's finally over with," said Mack's sister Latashia Bell, who continues to raise Mack's three children.
Last month, the State Attorney's Office dropped the other five murder charges against Durousseau.
Prosecutors were concerned that an acquittal in one of the remaining Jacksonville cases would jeopardize the conviction in the Mack case. Additionally, prosecutors worried an overturned conviction in the Mack case could present problems for the remaining cases.
Durousseau is expected to stand trial in the Georgia slaying. Tracy Habersham's nude body was found Sept. 7, 1997, two days after a party at a club on base. Police said they believe she was strangled shortly after the party.
Previous Stories: - November 9, 2007: 5 Murder Charges Dropped Against Killer
- June 29, 2007: Jury Recommends Death Penalty For Killer
- June 27, 2007: Jury Considers Death Sentence For Killer
- June 8, 2007: Jury Hands Up Guilty Verdict In Woman's 1999 Murder
- June 5, 2007: Several Witnesses Take Stand As Durousseau's Defense Makes Case
- June 4, 2007: Defense Makes Case In Suspected Killer's Trial
- May 31, 2007: Prosecution Rests In Trial Of Suspected Killer
- May 24, 2007: Prosecution: DNA Links Defendant To Killing
- May 23, 2007: Trial Begins For Accused Serial Killer
- May 22, 2007: Jury Being Picked For Accused Serial Killer's First Trial
- September 4, 2003: Grand Jury Indicts Suspected Serial Killer For Sixth Murder
- August 27, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Faces One More Murder Charge
- June 20, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Once Drove School Bus
- June 19, 2003: Durousseau Indicted: 5 Counts Of First-Degree Murder
- June 18, 2003: Family Of Murder Victims Mourn
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June 18, 2003: Gator City Taxi President Comes To Town For Answers - June 17, 2003: Father Of Murder Victim Knows Accused Killer
- June 17, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Under Arrest
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