This is a list of people sentenced to more than one life imprisonment in a single trial, worldwide. The sentence may specify that the life sentences are to be served concurrently or consecutively.
Prisoners sentenced to more than 20 life sentences
Convicted of 161 counts of first degree murder, first degree arson, and conspiracy by the state court of Oklahoma for his part in the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995; also sentenced in federal court for terrorism and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter. Record for most consecutive life sentences ever given to a single individual.[1]
Perpetrator of the 2019 El Paso shooting, in which 23 people were killed and 23 more injured; he is also charged in Texas state jurisdiction, and faces the death penalty if found guilty.[2]
Indonesian-born Manchester resident who was convicted of 136 rapes from 2015 to 2017 of at least 48 drugged victims, a number that according to British Police is most likely much higher.[3]
Convicted of multiple counts of kidnapping children in 2002 and 2007, armed criminal action, forcible sodomy, child pornography, transporting minors across state lines to engage in sexual activity, attempted murder, and attempted forcible sodomy.
Commander of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades and one of its chief bomb makers. Sentenced for the death of 66 Israelis, he is held in solitary confinement and denied visits. Also the longest officially confirmed sentence ever handed outside the U.S.
Pleaded guilty to the murder of 51 worshippers and seriously injuring 40 others in the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019. Sentenced to life imprisonment for each murder and preparing for a terrorist act, and an additional 480 years for wounding 40 people.[6][7]
Serial killer known as the "Green River Killer", who confessed to murdering 71 prostitutes between 1982 and 1998. The second most prolific serial killer in U.S. history in terms of number of confirmed victims (behind Samuel Little).
Abdulkadir Masharipov, an Uzbek national, was handed the equivalent of 40 life sentences plus an additional 1,368 years for perpetrating the 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting.[12]
Serial rapist and former physician who practiced medicine in Arkansas. Pled guilty and received the maximum sentence for raping at least 31 different minor children ranging from as early as 1997 until as late as 2022.[14]
Mass murderer who pleaded guilty to murdering 35 people and injuring 23 others in the Port Arthur massacre, a shooting spree in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia on April 28, 1996.[17] Sentenced to the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for each murder, and an additional 1,035 years for wounding 23 people, shooting at 14 other people with the intention to kill, four counts of theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of arson and one of kidnapping.[18]
Charged with 35 counts of statutory sodomy in the 1st degree, garnering 35 consecutive life sentences, which is the equivalent of 1,050 years in prison. Godfrey plead guilty to sexually abusing two children between 1995 and 1999. The children were between the ages of eight and 13 at the time of the assaults.[19][20]
Serial killer who raped more than 50 women and killed at least 10. The sentence was reduced on appeal from 33 life sentences (26 without parole and 7 with no parole for 25 years). Also sentenced to one death penalty. Executed in 2019.[26]
Serial killer known as the Wemmer Pam Murderer and the Hammer Killer. Convicted of 27 murders, 26 attempted murders, 15 rapes and 46 accounts of aggravated robbery, among other charges.
Reputed "boss of bosses" of the Sicilian Mafia, nicknamed "The Beast". Believed to have ordered over 150 murders in Italy.[28] Served his sentence in solitary confinement[29] until his death in prison in 2017, the day after his 87th birthday.
A Mexican-born labor contractor, Corona murdered 25 vagrants and occasional farm workers and buried them in orchards of California between 1970 and 1971. Died of natural causes in 2019 at California State Prison, Corcoran.[30]
Former Siegfried & Roy trainer who made a video of himself raping and sexually abusing a two-year-old girl in 2003. Sentenced to 21 life sentences on 10 counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14, 11 counts of sexual assault with a minor under 14, and one count of attempted sexual assault with a minor under 14. 19 charges were tied directly to what was seen in the tape, and three charges pertained to the assault of the 6-year-old girl, who wasn't recorded.[33][34]
Serial killer who killed 21–43 young men from 1962-to-1977.[35] Sentenced by Superior Judge John Hews to 21 life sentences with a minimum of 7 years to run concurrently[36] denied parole on June 21, 1984, April 29, 1987, July 23, 1990, June 29, 1993, October 30, 1996, January 10, 2002, February 22, 2007, and on January 31, 2012. The next time Kearney will be eligible for parole will be January 2027[37]
Member of the Sicilian Mafia, at first Salvatore Riina's right-hand man, then, after Riina's arrest, "boss of bosses". Was 40 years in hiding until his arrest in 2006. Died in 2016 while imprisoned.
Serial killer known as "the Yorkshire Ripper" who murdered 13 people and attempted to murder 7 others between 1975 and 1980. Died in 2020 of COVID-19.[39]
Serial killer known as "the MilwaukeeCannibal" who murdered 17 people between 1978 and 1991. While behind bars, Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver in 1994.[45]
Mass murderer guilty of perpetrating the 2012 Aurora shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. He killed 12 people and wounded 70 others. He was given 12 life sentences (one for each murder), and an additional 3,318 years in prison for numerous counts of attempted murder, one count of possessing an illegal explosive device, and one sentence enhancement of a crime of violence.[55]
Serial slasher known as "The Box Cutter". He slashed several women in California. He was convicted of five counts of robbery; three counts each of kidnap for robbery, false imprisonment, and burglary; two counts each of attempted murder and mayhem; and one count each of attempted robbery, attempted kidnap for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and assault.[62]
Convicted of the 1997 murder of Anthony Martinez in California, and the 2005 kidnapping of the Groene family (murdering 4 of them). Duncan's 11 sentences comes from 3 life terms in 2006 from a state court, 6 life terms in 2008 (3 from a state court, and the other 3 from a federal court), and 2 life terms in 2011 from a California court.[66][67][68] Died in 2021 while at United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute.[69]
Opened fire on a group of people outside a bar in downtown Ennis, Montana, then engaged police officers in a high-speed chase and shootout. One man was killed and six others were injured outside the bar. He was given the longest prison sentence in Montana state history.[70]
Drenched his Jeep Cherokee in gasoline before parking it on the tracks on the border of Atwater and Glendale. He bailed out on his suicide attempt but left the Jeep on the tracks. The ensuing derailment sent rail cars into nearby Union Pacific train, killing 11 and injuring 177.
Perpetrator of the 1975 "Easter Sunday Massacre", during which he murdered 11 people in his mother's home of Hamilton, Ohio. His sentence was reduced to two life sentences after an appeal in 1982. Ruppert died of natural causes in 2022.[71]
Serial Killer known as the Woodward Corridor Killer, who raped and strangled 11 prostitutes in Detroit because of his hate for prostitution. As a child, he was himself raped, and often witnessed his mother while she worked as a prostitute. Died of AIDS-related complications in 1997.[72]
Perpetrator of the 2022 New York City Subway attack in which injured 29 people, including 10 from gunfire. Received life for each person he attempted to murder, and an extra 10 years for a firearms charge.[78]
One of the perpetrators of the Broken Arrow murders. He was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He was given life without parole for the murder and one with parole for the assault and battery with a deadly weapon.[86] After trying to attack two staff people, he was given 3 extra life terms.[87]
IRA member and perpetrator of the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing, which unsuccessfully tried to kill Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Released in 1999 as per the Good Friday Agreement.
Member of 'The Beatles', a terrorist cell of four which was part of Islamic state, as "Ringo". His friend, Alexanda Kotey, who was also part of the group as "George", was also given a life sentence and is incarcerated at ADX Florence. Both were captured in February 2018 while trying to fled the collapse of Islamic State. Other two members of the group, "John" and "Paul" were killed and captured, respectively, in November 2015.
Convicted of armed robbery. The sentence was the longest in the US state of Georgia. They rejected an offer to plead guilty for a 40-year prison sentence.[99][100]
Serial killer and necrophiliac known as the "Boetie Boer". Murdered and sodomized ten women and young boys, including his ex-wife's son. Also killed his daughter.
One of two perpetrators of the Cheshire murders. First given six death penalties and 106 years at a 2010 trial, which were changed to life sentences after Connecticut abolished the death penalty.
Accomplice of Christopher Worrell in the Truro murders. Worrell died in a car accident before capture, and Miller died in prison of cancer in 2008.[118]
Former US Marine convicted of raping five people in Virginia.[123] Later convicted and sentenced to a further 100 years for the 2005 kidnapping, rape, and murder of two young girls in Illinois.[124]
Lebanese members of a PLF commando who attempted to abduct an Israeli citizen, Danny Haran, in the 1979 Nahariya attack. Kuntar and al-Abras were captured after sustaining a shootout with Israeli police and soldiers, and subsequently convicted of the murders of two Israeli policemen, Haran and Haran's two daughters, Einat and Yael Haran, who were 4 and 2 years old, respectively. Yael Haran was accidentally suffocated by her mother while hiding in a crawlspace, and Einat Haran died in the shootout with her father. Kuntar and al-Abras always denied to have killed Haran and his daughter and claimed that it was the Israeli forces who had actually killed them when they fired on the abductors as they tried to leave. al-Abras was released in the 1985 Jibril agreement, and Kuntar in the 2008 Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap. Kuntar was killed in 2015 by an Israeli drone strike in Syria.
Killed his wife and children, including his unborn son in August 2018. Pleaded guilty on November 6, 2018, and was sentenced to five life sentences without the possibility of parole. In addition to the life terms, Watts was sentenced to 48 years for unlawful termination of a pregnancy and 36 years in prison for three counts of tampering with a deceased human body.[129]
Convicted on 3 counts of 1st degree child molestation, attempted 1st degree statutory rape, abuse or neglect of a child under 14, 1st degree statutory rape person under 14, 1st degree statutory sodomy person under 14, tampering with a victim or attempt to tamper with a victim.[130]
Originally sentenced to death along with her husband Ray for the murder of five itinerant workers in their farm, between 1986 and 1989. With ages of 76 and 69 at the time of sentencing, the couple were the oldest prisoners in death row in the United States. After Ray died from natural causes while in death row in 1993, there was growing pressure to pardon or reduce Faye's sentence, as some argued that she had been abused and pressured into helping with the murders by her husband. The death sentence was commuted in 1999, and in 2002 Governor Bob Holden authorized her release on medical grounds. She died in a nursing home in 2003 from natural causes.
Serial killer who murdered five elderly women in a retirement home of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she worked as an unlicensed nurse's aide. Her accomplice Cathy Wood, also a worker with the same rank, was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Perpetrator of the 2021 London, Ontario truck attack in which he plowed his vehicle into a family of five waiting to cross the road at an intersection, murdering four of them.[140][141]
Lead a group that was involved in at least six robberies targeting restaurants and delivery drivers in Gwinnett county between August and October 2017.[144]
Serial killer who murdered elderly people and acquaintances in his hometown of Krasnokamsk. Notable for confessing to new crimes over a period of several years.
Perpetrator of 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, in which 8 people were killed and one more was injured. However, this sentence is for conviction for shooting in Cherokee county, where 4 out of 8 victims were killed.
Homeless serial killer, born in Moldova, who killed four other homeless people, all also originally from the former Soviet Union and who had been drinking partners of Bonner.
Stabbed a woman in 1982, and on April 22, 1983, bashed his flatmate to death with a hammer before driving to a school, taking three teachers hostage and forcing them to abuse each other before killing two of them. Sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without parole, redetermined in 1995 under new laws.
Molested and killed an unsupervised seven-year-old girl in a Nevadacasino's restroom when he was eighteen. Took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.[146]
Spree killer who murdered his girlfriend, her twin sister and an elderly couple during an eight-day manhunt. Documents found at his home revealed that the first two killings were premeditated and that he intended to murder more of his girlfriend's relatives.
Serial killer who murdered at least 60 people and confessed to murdering 93 people. This convictions is for four of the killings, and Little was not prosecuted for the rest of them. Died in prison in 2020.
Perpetrators of the Moorhouse murders. David Birnie hanged himself in prison in 2005, the day before his trial for the rape of another inmate. Catherine Birnie was declared "never to be released" in 2009, but this decision might be subject to change in 2019.
Convicted of killing his estranged wife, Diane Kyzer, his mother-in-law, Eunice Barringer, and college student Rick Pyron who just happened to be at the Barringer home on Halloween in 1976. Denied parole 10 times, the most recent being in 2016.[155]
Sentenced to death for the murder of Stacy Rae Errickson and also three terms of life imprisonment plus 70 years for kidnapping, robbing and raping Errickson in the same case. Executed on April 24, 2017.
Paranoid schizophrenic who opened fire in a shopping mall outside Philadelphia, killing three and injuring seven before being disarmed by another shopper.
While under parole for a previous sentence for armed robbery, Cribb broke into a family home of Swansea, New South Wales, and abducted a woman and her two children. Cribb phoned the woman's husband to tell him that he was the woman's long-time lover and that they had run away together. Afterward, Cribb raped the woman and fatally stabbed all captives with a knife, before being arrested after a ten-hour siege. While in awaiting trial, he escaped with another inmate and went on a robbery and raping spree until they were re-captured. Cribb's sentence was increased by thirty years because of crimes committed during this escape.
3 life sentences with minimum of 18 plus 8 years for rape and 5 years for aggressive burglary to run concurrently (later extended to a whole life order)
Triple Murderer who broke into the home of the Laitner family where he stabbed Basil Laitner, 59, Avril Laitner, 55, and there son, Richard Laitner, 28, to death before raping there daughter, Nicola Laitner, 18, at least twice before going on the run.[164] Hutchinson was sentenced by Judge J. McNeil in 1984 to three life sentences with a minimum of 18 years plus 8 years for rape and 5 years for aggressive burglary to run concurrently this sentence was changed to a whole life order on 16 December 1994 by Home SecretaryLeon Brittan[165]
Brazilian 19-year-old who murdered his aunt, uncle and two infant cousins in Pioz, Castilla–La Mancha. The three life sentences were for the murders of the children due to their age, and the premeditation of the uncle's murder hours after the others.[166]
Convicted of kidnapping, burglary, robbery and rape for the death of his ex-girlfriend Alicia Lynn Yarbrough in Georgia. Additionally, Pye received the death sentence in Georgia for the most serious charge of murdering Yarbrough, and he was executed by lethal injection in 2024.[167]
16-year-old student who murdered a classmate and his classmate's parents in their family home. Died by suicide in prison in 2017 at State Correctional Institution – Camp Hill.
Beat his ex-girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend's two children to death with a ball-peen hammer in the victims' own home. After the crimes, he made a paste with their blood and coconut oil, apparently inspired by Biblicalsacrifices.
Serial killer who befriended and deceived five people into trusting him, before shooting them in the head with a silenced pistol and robbing them of their belongings.
Serial killer known as "the Shoe Fetish Slayer" because of his compulsive attraction to women's shoes. Confessed to four murders but was convicted of only three because the first body was never found. Died of cancer at Oregon State Penitentiary in 2006.[173]
Serial killer known as "The Highway Killer" who killed at least three women between the end of the 1940s and the early 1950s. Unlike today, a total sentence of several life imprisonments was not yet formed.
President of the United Mine Workers of America, found guilty of hiring hitmen to kill a challenger for his position, Joseph Yablonski, in 1969; Yablonski's wife and daughter were also killed. Died in prison in 1985.
Ku Klux Klan member convicted for the 1964 kidnapping of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore in Meadville, Mississippi, who were subsequently murdered. The sentence was overturned in 2008, arguing that the statute of limitations had run out, but was later reinstated in 2009. Died in prison in 2011.
Convicted of killing his estranged wife, Diane Kyzer, his mother-in-law, Eunice Barringer, and college student Rick Pyron who just happened to be at the Barringer home in Alabama on Halloween in 1976.[174] Received 10,000 years for the murder of his wife and 2 life sentences for the other two killings.[175]
Serial killer who pled guilty to 13 murders in order to avoid the death penalty. Was sentenced to two death penalties the following year for other murders, but they will not be carried out until the earlier sentence is completed. But they commuted to 2 life sentences without parole.
South African Police (SAP) colonel during apartheid era who was the leader of the secret Counterinsurgence Unit 10, also known as C10 or "Vlakplaas", which abducted, tortured and murdered hundreds of anti-apartheid activists in the 1980s. Personally found guilty of 89 charges, including six murders.[177] Was granted parole in 2015.[178]
Perpetrator of the Escondido mosque fire and Poway synagogue shooting. Earnest was first convicted by the State of California to a life sentence without parole, a separate 121 years-to-life sentence, and a further 16 years.[179] A few months later, he was given life without parole plus 30 years in federal court.[180]
Former Seminole, FL, police officer who repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter from age 8 until she was 17. He also photographed his sexual assaults.[186][187]
PIRA member, convicted when he was nineteen years old, for his part in a plot to detonate four car bombs in London, two of which exploded successfully and injured 200 people. Became a politician for Sinn Féin following his release in 1989, and was one of the leading Republican negotiators of the Good Friday Agreement.
Taiwanese-born perpetrator of the 1992 Simon's Rock College of Bard shooting, in which one student and one professor died, and four students were wounded.
Spree killer captured after the 1993 Cangai Siege. Sentenced in New South Wales for three counts of accessory to murder, and in Queensland for two murders.
Tamil shipping magnate and political leader imprisoned for sedition against the British colonial government. During his imprisonment he was subjected to harsh labor despite it not being part of his sentence. Though released in 1912, he found that his company had been liquidated the previous year.
Incarcerated for two murders in Ponce, after which he led a prison riot and escape. After murdering an unknown number of prison guards and ten other people outside the prison over the course of two years, he was located in a farm by police and killed in a shootout.
Convicted for the murders of two highway patrolmen when he was driving to Mississippi to break his brother out of death row. His brother was executed two months later. Wetzel died of Alzheimer's disease in 2012, still in prison.[193][194]
Originally arrested in 1960 for the killing of a store clerk, Jameson murdered a prison guard and escaped before trial, but was arrested again when he was robbing a grocery store. One of the life sentences was commuted in 1975 by the state governor, Michael Dukakis. He escaped again in 1985 and wasn't recaptured until 2005.
Pilot who smuggled cocaine from Norman's Cay in the Bahamas to Florida on behalf of Colombian drug lord Carlos Lehder. Sentence shortened to time served and released in 2009, shortly before he died.
Boarding house director who murdered her elderly and mentally disabled boarders in order to cash on their Social Security checks. Died in prison in 2011.
Son of a West German diplomat convicted of murdering the parents of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom, a Canadian citizen. Söring and Haysom were arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to the United States on the condition that neither would face the death penalty. Haysom was sentenced to 90 years in prison in return for testifying against Söring, who denies responsibility. Söring has been released and has been deported to Germany in December 2019.
Convicted to two life sentences for the prison murders of two other inmates, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, who had murdered his wife and tried to incriminate two innocent men. Scarver was already serving a life sentence for murder at the time.
Convicted of kidnapping and attempted murder in 2003. Executed in 2018 for the 2012 murder of a corrections officer during a failed prison escape attempt at South Dakota State Penitentiary.
Received one life term for raping a young girl in 1990, and also given a second life term for the 2012 murder of a corrections officer at South Dakota State Penitentiary.[196]
Co-perpetrator of the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting, during which 18-year-old student Kendrick Castillo was killed as he and other classmates tackled Erickson to the ground. He was convicted on 46 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and supplying a juvenile with a handgun.[198]
Serial rapist who abducted and held three young women captive in his Cleveland, Ohio, home for over a decade. Pled guilty to 900 counts of kidnapping and rape in order to avoid a possible death sentence for inducing five miscarriages on one of his victims through violence, poisoning and starvation. Hanged himself in prison, only one month into his sentence. He could have got death penalty plus 9846 years and 6 months if convicted.
Members of the 64 Brims gang. Chambers shot and seriously injured a 20-year-old man in 2017 during a gang-related armed robbery, which Salaam oversaw and approved, the release said. Chambers was convicted of 14 felonies, while Salaam was found guilty of six.[200]
Australian sex offender charged in 2015 with rape, human trafficking, production and dissemination of child pornography, and torture of 75 children, as well as the alleged murder of an 11-year-old girl. Sentenced to life in prison in 2018, and received an additional 129 years for a second conviction in 2022.
Burglars who became friends in prison and killed a man and a woman after being paroled, and shot at police, wounding an officer before surrendering after a siege. The woman was also abducted, repeatedly raped and tortured by both.
Murderers of Anita Cobby. All except Gary Murphy (life plus 48 years) were originally sentenced to life plus 50 years: Michael Murphy's sentence was ordered to commence on the expiration of a 25-year sentence previously imposed. Travers, Gary Murphy, and Les Murphy have since been sentenced to additional time for other offending prior to the murder and in prison. Michael Murphy died in prison in February 2019.
Founder of the New York chapter of the Latin Kings, convicted of ordering several murders while he was already in prison. Serves his sentence in solitary confinement.
Ritchie, a Jamaican man, has been arrested first for possessing MDMA, then after he killed 9 year old Felicia Williams, he had possessed 20+ grams of marijuana. He was sentenced to death for her murder. Then, Judge Sisco gave Life without parole for the rape, and then 30 years were added to the aggravated child abuse, and 5 years for each drug possession.[205][206]
Serial killer who killed 2 prisoners and 1 civilian. Previously sentenced to death but his sentence for the murder of the last victim had been commuted to Life. He was also given 15 years for the second murder, 5 years for the first murder, and 5 years for the attempted murder.
Con woman who poisoned her relatives to cash on their life insurance policies. Convicted of murdering her last husband and attempting to murder their daughter. Died in 1987 from hypothermia suffered during an escape attempt.
Ex-Marine who raped 17 year-old cheerleader Ashley Stevens in Arkansas, a third cousin of then governor Bill Clinton. Before trial, DuMond was castrated in his own home and his testicles were subsequently flushed down a toilet by a local sheriff. The sentence was reduced to 39 years in 1992, and DuMond was later paroled in 1999.
