(JTA) — A white supremacist convicted of killing four people in three states — one because his name sounded Jewish — was sentenced to two life sentences for two of the murders.
David “Joey” Pedersen, 34, was sentenced Aug. 4 in a federal court in Portland, Ore., for the murder of Cody Myers of Lafayette, Ore., and Reginald Clark of Eureka, Calif., to concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Pedersen already is serving life a life sentence in prison in Washington State for the murders of his father and stepmother in Everett, Wash.
He and his girlfriend, Holly Ann Grigsby, 27, were arrested in October 2011 after a monthlong killing spree that spanned California, Washington and Oregon. Grigsby reportedly told investigators that Myers, a Christian, was killed because his name sounded Jewish.
Grigsby reportedly told police that she and Pedersen were on their way to “kill more Jews” in Sacramento, Calif., when they were apprehended.
The 24-page indictment charged that Pedersen and Grigsby were members of a criminal enterprise that aimed to promote a white supremacist movement.
The pair robbed their victims to finance the campaign, stole their cars to escape, and murdered them to eliminate witnesses and avoid capture.
The enterprise, according to the indictment, also targeted Jewish leaders and members of prominent Jewish organizations. Pedersen researched the names and addresses of Jewish organizations in Seattle, Portland and Sacramento to identify potential targets for elimination but never followed through.