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2nd Brother Gets Life For Oakland Thanksgiving Killings

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The second of two California brothers convicted of the Thanksgiving killings of three Oakland family members has been sentenced to life in prison.

Tewodros Gebreselassie, 44, was sentenced on Wednesday to three life terms without the possibility of parole and a life term with the possibility of parole.

Gebreselassie and his 48-year-old brother Asmerom Gebreselassie were each convicted of three counts of special-circumstances murder, two counts of false imprisonment and other crimes. Asmerom was sentenced Monday to life in prison.

They in-law were shot to death during a Thanksgiving 2006 gathering in Oakland.

Prosecutors say the brothers killed their widowed sister-in-law, her 17-year-old brother and her 50-year-old mother because they wrongly believed their in-laws killed their brother to get a $500,000 life insurance policy.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

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