Man who killed 2 at Portland bar gets life in prison

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A 23-year-old man who shot and killed two other men at a Portland bar has agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole to avoid a possible death sentence.
 
News outlets report that Robert Jermaine Richardson Jr. agreed to the deal on Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
 
A jury on Oct. 19 convicted Richardson of two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of 30-year-old Eric Jacob Takemoto and 42-year-old Anthony Michael Howard in October 2015 at the Hourglass Pub in northeast Portland.
 
The jury had been scheduled on Monday to start hearing prosecutors argue why Richardson should be sentenced to death.
 
Richardson contended during the trial that he acted in self-defense.
 
But a witness said Richardson started an altercation and then opened fire with a handgun. Richardson also wounded a third man.