VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Cola Beale was sentenced in Norfolk on Friday another life sentence for the murder of his cousin, 32-year-old Downing McLean.
Friday's sentencing marks the fourth life sentence handed down for a killing spree that left three people and a dog dead in March 2022. Beale also received five additional years for use of a firearm.
Beale's Virginia Beach sentence was handed down in July, when he received three life sentences plus 63 years for murdering his girlfriend, Czavi’er Hill, and father figure, Clifton Baxter.
After a two-day trial in Norfolk, a jury found Beale guilty of first-degree murder and using a gun in the commission of a felony.
Watch more: Cola Beale gets 3 life sentences in Virginia Beach for murdering girlfriend, father figure
The jury in the VB trial found Beale guilty in March 2024 on two aggravated murder charges, two counts of arson, one count of abduction, two counts of using a gun to commit murder, and one count of mutilating a dog.
Beale was given 63 years in addition to his three life sentences in Virginia Beach.
Watch more coverage: Cola Beale convicted of murdering girlfriend, father figure, and burning down his girlfriend's townhome
Beale admitted to the murders, in a jailhouse interview with News 3 in 2022.
Beale shot his girlfriend, 31-year-old Czavi'er Hill, in the head inside her Virginia Beach home. Two days later, he returned to the home and set it on fire — burning Czavi'er's dog alive while it was caged in a kennel.
Watch: Cola Beale found guilty in Norfolk of murdering his cousin
Beale then went on to kill his father figure, 73-year-old Clifton Baxter, while he was asleep on the couch.
Beale said he shot McLean because he considered him to be a liability since he knew about Hill and Baxter's murders.
After killing three people, Beale said he also took McLean's girlfriend hostage in an Airbnb, where he watched the news coverage of his manhunt.
Watch: Cola Beale expresses regret in jailhouse interview after murder conviction
"I was watching y'all's broadcasts," he said. "Y'all did some good broadcasts."
Beale also admitted to plotting more murders while in the Airbnb.
One week after Beale began the killing spree, he was caught by U.S. Marshals.
Beale has a criminal history dating back to 2005, including armed robbery and sexual assault on a child.
