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BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A Californian teen who stabbed to death his friend and his friend's father was sentenced to 71 years to life in prison.
Talen Barton had lived in the friend’s home for two years after the friend convinced his parent to take in the troubled teen.
The sentencing judge said she intends for 19-year-old Talen Barton to remain in prison for the rest of his life.
Barton told psychologists he killed because he wanted to know what it was like to die. Barton pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. , according to media reports on Friday.
On the night of the attack, Barton took a 17-inch knife from the kitchen and went into the bedroom where his 17-year-old friend Teo Palmieri was sleeping. Barton placed his hand over Palmieri's mouth and slashed his throat. Barton also killed Palmieri's father and seriously injured two others in the house.
"He is an absolute monster," Detective Clint Wyant said in his investigative summary.
(Agencies)
