BRIGHTON, Colo. — The man who shot and killed three people inside a crowded Thornton Walmart last fall learned his fate Friday.
Adams County judge Mark D. Warner sentenced Scott Ostrem, 48, to three consecutive life sentences for the three victims plus an additional 48 years behind bars for each of the other victims inside the store at the time of the shooting. He did not speak at the sentencing.
Ostrem pleadedguilty to three counts of first degree murder last month under a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table.
On Nov. 1, 2017, Ostrem walked into a Thornton Walmart and fatally shot three people. The victims were later identified as Pamela Marques, 52, and Victor Vasquez, 26, both from Denver, and Carlos Moreno, 66, of Thornton.
During sentencing, the judge said Ostrem had a “black and malignant heart fatally bent on spreading fear, misery and death” in the community.
Nothing has emerged publicly to suggest a reason for the attack.
Ostrem was a sheet-metal worker with an unremarkable past. He had minor run-ins with police, including a 1999 charge of resisting arrest that was dismissed. He filed for bankruptcy in 2015, listing $47,000 in income and more than $85,000 in debts.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
