Convicted killer won't receive death benefits

Hillsborough, N.C. — A Chapel Hill man who pleaded guilty to killing his mother and father won't receive any money or other death benefits from his parents' estate.

Adam Sapikowski, 19, was sentenced in February to up to 50 years in prison for second-degree murder in the May 2005 shooting deaths of James and Alison Sapikowski.

Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens made the ruling Monday at the request of Dean Powell, the executor of the Sapikowskis' estate.

Sapikowski's attorney, Johnny Gaskins, argued his client should be entitled because his client was insane at the time of his parents' deaths.

State law generally prohibits convicted murderers from collecting death benefits, but Gaskin said it excludes killers who are insane at the time.