PHOENIX — A man has pleaded guilty to murder in the deaths of a cigar salesman in Phoenix and a couple from an upscale suburb in burglaries seven years ago that ended with the victims being killed and their homes set on fire.
The plea agreement made Monday by 38-year-old Michael Lee Crane of Mesa calls for him to serve three consecutive life sentences in the January 2012 killings of Phoenix businessman Bruce Gaudet and Paradise Valley Doctor Lawrence Shapiro and his wife Glenna Shapiro.
As a part of the plea, prosecutors agreed to drop their effort to seek the death penalty against Crane.
Authorities say Crane bound and fatally shot the three victims at their homes, stole their jewelry and other valuables, and set their houses on fire.
The Shapiros were killed four days after Gaudet.
In December 2018, Crane pleaded guilty to three unrelated burglaries from 2009 and 2011.
Crane, a self-proclaimed Sovereign Citizen, which is an anti-government extremist group. He is known for outbursts in the courtroom.
Sentencing for all of Crane's cases is scheduled for March 22 at 10 a.m. before Judge Warren Granville.