BOSTON — A drifter convicted of killing two Massachusetts men in carjackings in 2001 has been sentenced to death.
The federal jury on Monday sentenced Gary Lee Sampson to death for the killing of 19-year-old college student Jonathan Rizzo but gave him a life sentence for the killing of 69-year-old retiree Philip McCloskey.
The judge must follow the jury’s decision.
Sampson’s lawyers said he was brain damaged when he carjacked Rizzo and McCloskey, stabbed them more than a dozen times, slit their throats and left them to die in the woods.
Sampson was condemned to die in 2003 but later granted a new sentencing trial.
His attorney says Sampson took responsibility by confessing to the killings.
Sampson received a separate life sentence for killing a New Hampshire man the same week.
