Edgar Ray Killen got popped for three consecutive 20 year sentences in the Chaney/Goodman/Schwerner killings today. Judge Gordon said that he took no pleasure in the sentence, but his comments demonstrate that the reason he took no pleasure in the sentence was that three people were killed:

"I take no pleasure in handing down this sentence," Gordon told Killen as he sat in his wheelchair before the judge's bench.

"The three gentlemen who were killed ... each life had value, and each life is as valuable as the other life.

"The three lives should absolutely be respected," Gordon said. Then, the judge told Killen he would serve 20 years for the slaying of each man, with the sentences to run consecutively.

Killen will be sent to Central Mississippi Correctional Facility where his old buddy Sam Bowers is currently doing life for the murder of Vernon Dahmer, which conviction came down the pike in 1998. After an evaluation period at Central they'll decide if Killen will be moved to Parchman.

The three consecutive sentences mean that Killen faces 60 years in prison. I guess Judge Gordon wanted to make sure that he wasn't coming back.