L O S A N G E L E S, March 26 -- White supremacist Buford O. Furrow apologizedfor wounding five people at a Jewish center and murdering a postalworker, and was sentenced today to life in prison withoutpossibility of parole.
"I want to try, although it is impossible, to convey my deepsorrow," Buford O. Furrow, 39, said as he read a statement in acourtroom filled with sobbing victims of his 1999 shooting rampageand their relatives.
"I think about what happened every day and I will grieve for itevery day for the rest of my life," he said.
Hundreds of Thousands in Restitution
U.S. District Judge Nora Manella imposed two life sentences plus110 years in prison and payment of restitution totaling $690,294.
Furrow blamed mental illness, saying he wished he had been keptin a mental hospital to which he tried to commit himself before theshootings.
He insisted he does not harbor any hatred of his victims becauseof race or religion.
"I'm sorry for how I traumatized your lives," he said tofamilies in the courtroom. "I would give anything for this not tohave happened."
Furrow stormed into the North Valley Jewish Community Center onAug. 10, 1999, and raked it with gunfire, wounding three boys, ateen-age girl and a woman. He then headed into the San FernandoValley neighborhood and killed Filipino-American mailman JosephIleto.
In a plea bargain, Furrow pleaded guilty in January to 16federal charges. The slaying of the Ileto was a federal offensebecause he was a government employee.
Furrow fired more than 70 bullets into the Jewish center, whichwas packed with children attending day programs. Ileto, killedhours later, was shot nine times.
He surrendered in Las Vegas the next day and stunned authoritiesby declaring he intended to send a "wake-up call to America tokill Jews."
"Your actions were a reminder that bigotry is alive," thejudge said, referring to Furrow's "wake-up call" statement. "Ifyou've sent a message it is that even the most violent crimes canstrengthen a community."
