Devon Arthurs will not face death penalty

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Tampa police say Devon Arthurs admitted to killing his two roommates for disrespecting his new Muslim faith.

Thursday, Arthurs' attorneys got a huge gift from Assistant State Prosecutor Ron Gale, who decided not to seek the death penalty in Arthurs' case.

It appeared to take Arthurs' public defender, Mike Peacock by surprise.

"Well, there's the answer for the first time, your honor. Thank you," Peacock said.

Arthurs is now the latest murder defendant in Hillsborough County who will not be facing the possibility of a death sentence. His case made headlines all over the country.

He told police he was a neo-Nazi sympathizer until he found the Muslim faith and converted. Right around that time, he was living with three self-proclaimed neo-Nazi roommates who, Arthurs says, made fun of his new faith, so he killed two of them - Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk.

Detectives say the third roommate, Brandon Russell, a Florida National Guardsman, discovered the bodies. But things got even more bizarre when police checked the garage.

They found homemade explosives and bomb-making material. Russell told investigators he had made them himself for his homemade rockets. But detective say there was no evidence of that.

In his room, Nazi propaganda and a picture of his idol, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, was found.

At first, Russell was granted bond but the judge changed his mind after Devon Arthurs told police about Russell's "target list" that included power plants and grids in South Florida.

Russell's attorney, Ian Goldstein says Arthurs has no credibility.

"He is a liar and a murderer," said Goldstein.