(Reuters) -Robert Aaron Long, the man charged in the shooting deaths of eight people in Atlanta-area spas in March - six of them women of Asian descent - pleaded guilty on Tuesday to murdering four of the victims.
Dressed in a white, button-down shirt with an open collar, and dress slacks and sporting a mohawk haircut, Long pleaded guilty in court to the murders of four people at the day spa in Cherokee County, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Atlanta.
Long, holding his head up but looking somber, also affirmed agreement with the state's recommendation of four life sentences without possibility of parole, to be served consecutively, plus 35 years on other charges.
The victims in Cherokee County have been identified as: Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Yan, 49; and Daoyou Feng, 44.
Long has also been indicted on murder charges in the March 16 killings of four women in Fulton County, Georgia, which includes Atlanta.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said Long targeted the women in Atlanta because of their race, national origin and gender and that she would seek the death penalty against him.