Kansas shooting: Adam Purinton given three life sentences for hate crime

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Adam Purinton appearing in court via video conferenceImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Adam Purinton appeared in court via video-link from prison

A man who shot dead a tech worker from India has received three life sentences for the racially motivated attack.

Adam Purinton, 52, killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, and wounded Alok Madasani at a bar in the city of Olathe, Kansas, in February last year.

Purinton called the men "terrorists" and yelled "get out of my country", before later shooting them.

He said he fired on the two men, who worked as engineers at GPS-maker Garmin, thinking they were Iranian.

A third man, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, was wounded when he tried to intervene.

Purinton, from Olathe, had already been jailed for 50 years without parole on state murder charges.

The attack drew worldwide condemnation and shocked the Indian community in the US.

Federal prosecutors said Purinton targeted the two Indian nationals "because of their actual and perceived race, colour, religion and national origin".

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Eyewitness and friend Alok Madasani, and widow Sunayana Kutchibhotla spoke to Rajini Vaidyanathan

The prosecution and defence teams had jointly requested a sentence of life imprisonment without parole on hate crimes charges for Purinton.

Witnesses said he had enquired if the men's status in the US was legal before shouting: "Get out of my country."

Purinton then went home, picked up one of his guns and returned to the bar, opening fire on the men.

The judge in the case also ordered Purinton to pay Mr Kuchibhotla's family restitution (compensation) of $14,200 (£11,000).

Image caption,

Mr Kuchibhotla and his wife came to the US in pursuit of a better life