NASHUA, N.H. (AP) – A man facing execution for killing two men in Massachusetts pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a third in New Hampshire.

Gary Sampson, who admitted killing Robert “Eli” Whitney in July 2001, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received the mandatory sentence of life without parole. He said he agreed to the plea not only because he is guilty but because prosecutors agreed to keep him out of New England while he awaits execution.

Sampson, who is appealing his death sentence, spoke forcefully in court, interrupting the judge’s questions to complain about the prison chains on his waist and make his case for being returned to the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.