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Police Killer Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Two Consecutive Life Terms

Urbandale and Des Moines police departments

The man charged in the ambush killings of two Des Moines-area police officers is withdrawing his not guilty pleas. Scott Greene now admits to killing Urbandale police officer Justin Martin and Des Moines sergeant Tony Beminio last November. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone says writings and drawings on Greene’s jail cell walls following his arrest tied him to the case.

“They are essentially admissions of his responsibility in this matter," he says. "He drew pictures of each officers face.”

District Court Judge Karen Romano sentenced Greene to two consecutive life terms for the shooting deaths of the 24-year-old Martin and the 38-year-old Beminio. Sarcone says Greene deserved the stiff punishment.

“What Mr. Greene did was horrendous, and we told the court that today," he says. "That’s partly why the judge gave him consecutive sentences, to understand that both lives, were very, very important to us.”

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