PARIS –An Oxford County Superior Court justice sentenced Christian Nielsen to life in prison this afternoon.

Justice Robert E. Crowley sentenced Nielsen to four life sentences, to be served concurrently, for killing four people over Labor Day weekend in 2006.

Crowley said he gave Nielsen life in prison because the killings were pre-meditated and because Nielsen intended to kill more than one person.

“These were four of the worst criminal acts in recent Maine history,” Crowley said in handing down the sentence.

Nielsen apologized to the families of his victims, saying briefly that he was sorry. His mother, father, stepmother and sister also apologized and asked the judge to consider that Nielsen is mentally ill and needs help.

Earlier in the four-hour sentencing hearing at Oxford County Superior Court, relatives of the victims asked the judge to sentence Nielsen to four consecutive life sentences.

Crowley heard statements from 12 relatives of Nielsen’s victims, including the 16-year-old son of James Whitehurst, the first person Nielsen killed.

“What kind of person kills harmless, innocent people for absolutely no reason?” James Whitehurst II asked the court.

Nielsen, dressed in jeans, sneakers and a blue, button-down shirt stared straight ahead or looked down during the testimony. He showed little emotion as he looked occasionally at the news photographers and videographers assembled in the courtroom gallery.

Nielsen pleaded guilty last week to shooting to death James Whitehurst, 50, of Batesville, Ark.; Julie Bullard, 65, of Newry; her daughter Selby Bullard, 30, of Bethel and Cindy Beatson, 43, of Bethel.