Anthony Wayne Smith has been sentenced to life in prison by a Los Angeles County jury on Friday for the torturing and killing of two brothers in 1999 and the murder of another man in 2001. According to the Associated Press, Smith will not be eligible for parole as Smith, who is 48 years old, was convicted last November for three counts of murder with special circumstances of torture, kidnapping and multiple murders.
The jury did not reach a verdict on a fourth murder charge, involving the slaying of Smith's friend whose name was Maurilio Ponce. Prosecutors said Smith was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
In 1999, the prosecution said Smith posed as a police officer to kidnap brothers Ricky and Kevin Nettles from their Los Angeles car wash business on Nov. 10, 1999, before killing them.
Smith was also accused of kidnapping Dennis Henderson on June 24, 2001, from the Mar Vista section of Los Angeles before beating and stabbing him to death.
Prosecutors said Ponce was lured to an Antelope Valley desert highway in 2008, where he was beaten and shot after a business deal went bad.
There were no other motives given for the other slayings.
Evidence that was presented at the former Oakland Raiders' trial was two identifications by witnesses, zip ties found on one of the victim's hands that came from the same production batch as ties in Smith's possession, and rope found on one body that was similar to rope also in his possession.
Prosecutors said books of Smith's on how to kill people.
Smith was drafted 11th overall by the Raiders in 1990 when the team still played in Los Angeles. He totaled 57½ sacks and 190 tackles before retiring after the 1997 season, during which the team had already returned to Oakland.
