Man convicted of local killings sentenced in Ohio murder

A South African man convicted of killing four people - including two in a Tucumcari motel room in 2011 - was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for a deadly shooting in Ohio.

Muziwokuthula S. Madonda, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated murder and felonious assault in the 2011 shooting of Zenzele Davis Mdadane in Butler Township, Ohio.

According to reporting by the Dayton Daily News, prosecutors sought the maximum sentence of life without parole and said he would kill again if he had the chance.

Prosecutors stated in a sentencing memo that Madonda wanted the death penalty.

"He further stated that 'everywhere he goes he kills people,'" the memo stated. "Defendant then asked this court and the state to guarantee isolation because he voiced feeling homicidal towards other inmates and indicated he would kill again if given the opportunity."

Madonda's defense lawyer he was remorseful and requested a 20-year prison sentence that would be served simultaneously with his sentences for the homicides in Tucumcari and Akron, Ohio.

Before the Mdadane killing, Madonda shot and killed a bank vice president in Akron. Madonda then fled to New Mexico with Mdadane's belongings.

According to the Quay County Sun archives, Madonda in 2015 pleaded no contest to second-degree murder of two Tucumcari men four years earlier and faced up to 24 years in prison.

Madonda shot to death Gabriel Baca, 37, and Bobby Gonzales, 57, on March 24, 2011, at the now-closed Tucumcari Inn motel.

No motive ever was given for the killings. The victims were in a motel room next to Madonda's.

A month after the Tucumcari killings, Madonda was captured without incident by U.S. marshals and Texas rangers at a restaurant in Conroe, Texas.

Madonda agreed to waive his rights to contest his extradition to Ohio to face murder charges for the two other homicides.