Timothy Joseph McGhee, 35, appeared in court Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported, showing no emotion as Superior Court Judge Robert Perry imposed the sentence. McGhee, the judge observed, "treated killing as some kind of perverse sport."

McGhee was convicted of three murders. During the penalty phase of the trial, prosecutors produced evidence that he had been involved in a fourth killing, that of a woman who had given police information.

"The one quality that I have seen in him that I have not seen before is a quality that is more typical of a serial killer: They enjoy killing," Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun told the judge. "He seemed to enjoy killing."

McGhee was a member of the Toonerville gang, a criminal organization formed in the 1950s. Witnesses against him included former gang members, some of them accomplices in his crimes.