Life in prison for ex-professor

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP/WPRI) -- A former university professor has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing three of her colleagues and wounding three others during a faculty meeting.
   
The jury deliberated for about 20 minutes before convicting Amy Bishop on Monday. Amy Bishop, a former professor at the University of Alabama in Hunstville, showed no reaction as the verdict was read.
   
Circuit Judge Alan Mann then imposed the life sentence. Bishop did not speak in court.
   
The Harvard-educated biologist avoided a death sentence by pleading guilty earlier this month to the shootings at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
   
However, she was still required to have a brief trial under Alabama law because she admitted to a capital murder charge.
    
Bishop is also charged with shooting and killing her brother, Seth Bishop, in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1986.
    
His death was originally ruled accidental. Shortly after the 2010 university shootings, she was indicted on a first-degree murder charge.

Bishop has said she accidentally shot her brother while trying to unload her father's shotgun.
   
David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, said Monday evening Morrissey expects to make an announcement by the end of the week.