ALFRED, Maine (AP) — A Biddeford man who fatally shot two brothers during a late-night confrontation proclaimed his innocence before being given two life sentences Monday, even suggesting that “the Lord” approved of the shootings.

Maintaining he feared for his life and acted in self-defense, Rory Holland, 57, of Biddeford told the judge that the victims, 19-year-old Gage Green and his 21-year-old brother, Derek, were the drunken instigators and were responsible for their own deaths early on June 30, 2009.

He told the judge he said a prayer in the courtroom in which he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the true judge who justly gave Derek and Gage Green their death.”

That remark prompted the victims’ mother and others to stand up and leave the courtroom. Remaining spectators broke into applause when York County Superior Court Justice Roland Cole adjourned the hearing after imposing the maximum sentences allowed in Maine, which has no death penalty.

Holland was convicted in November of two counts of murder by jurors in Bangor, where the trial was moved because of pretrial publicity in Biddeford, where he was a regular fixture at City Council meetings, twice ran for mayor and claimed he was a victim of racism. Holland is black in a city that is overwhelmingly white.

Over the years, Holland has been involved in numerous lawsuits and has faced several criminal charges, including assault, trespassing and contempt of court. In the late 1970s he served a two-year sentence for trying to kill his 16-month-old daughter while living in Kansas.

Defense lawyer Clifford Strike urged the judge to impose a sentence of no more than 30 years in prison, saying the case was akin to manslaughter, not murder. But Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese sought life prison sentences, calling the shootings a case of premeditated murder by a man who’s shown no remorse.

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