Jury sentences Texas courthouse shooter to death

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BEAUMONT, Texas, May 8 (UPI) -- Bartholomew Granger, who killed a woman when he opened fire on a courthouse in Beaumont, Texas, last year, was sentenced to death by a Galveston County jury.

During testimony Tuesday, Judge Bob Wortham admitted into evidence a legal pad with the word "death" on it that the 42-year-old Granger held up to the jurors, the Beaumont Enterprise reported.

Granger, of Houston, was found guilty of capital murder last week in the fatal shooting of Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, of Deweyville, killed when Granger opened fire on the Jefferson County Courthouse March 14, 2012. Three others, including Granger's daughter and her mother, were injured.

He was firing at the women for testifying against him in a child sexual assault trial.

Wortham asked bailiffs Tuesday to gag Granger because he repeatedly spoke out during a victim impact statement given by Sebolt's daughter, Deborah Holst. Granger yelled he did not kill Sebolt, the Enterprise said.

The judge denied a request by Granger attorney James Makin to remove Granger to a cell where he could listen to the statement. Wortham said by law Holst had a right to deliver her message to Granger face to face.