Story highlights

Frazier Glenn Cross was charged with killing three people: William Lewis Corporon, Reat Griffin Underwood and Terri LaManno

Cross was openly racist and anti-Semitic, according to those who knew him

The jury will now decide whether to give him the death penalty

CNN  — 

Frazier Glenn Cross, the man accused of killing three people at a Kansas Jewish community center and nearby assisted living facility, was convicted of capital murder on Monday.

The trial now enters the sentencing phase, during which the jury will decide whether Cross, also known as Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., receives the death penalty.

Cross, 74, was charged with killing William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, at a Jewish community center in a suburb near Kansas City. He was also accused of murdering Terri LaManno, 53, at the nearby Village Shalom Retirement Community.

Cross had a history of espousing anti-Semitic and white supremacist views and was thought to be targeting Jews when he killed LaManno, Underwood and Coroporon in April 2014. They were not Jewish.

“Clearly, his mission – his goal – was to kill as many people as possible at those two facilities,” Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said during closing arguments.

“He wants to be the one who decides who lives and who dies” Howe said.

Cross represented himself in the trial, during which he claimed he was protecting the white race from Jews.

He pleaded not guilty but admitted to the killings, claiming he “wanted to kill Jews, not people,” according to CNN affiliate KCTV.

Cross was also consistently rude and prone to outbursts during the trial, according to Judge Kelly Ryan.

At one point, Ryan removed Cross from the courtroom before the verdict was read.

“Today you continue to escalate. I held off about as far as I could after mentioning that you thought George Washington would shoot me if he was here today,” Ryan said to Cross. “Finally, and you said you have no respect for the court or anyone else here. In fact, [you said] ‘I hate every damn one of you because you’re whores to the Jews.’ That’s the point when I had to remove [you] from the court. ”

After the verdict was announced, Cross said, “I think the fat lady just sang. Sieg heil.” He then gave the Nazi salute.

The next phase of the trial is set for Tuesday morning.