Imprisoned white supremacist James Tyler Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder on February 28 in Shasta County, California, Superior Court.

Williams, 32, admitted to helping his older brother, Benjamin Matthew Williams, kill Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder, a gay couple, in their Happy Valley, California, home in 1999. The plea deal enables Williams to avoid the death penalty.

Williams, who said he was following instructions from God to execute homosexuals, also pleaded guilty to hate crime charges. According to a statement released by his attorney, Williams said that homosexuals are subject to execution "for the preservation of society."

Williams has been incarcerated since November 2001, when he and his brother received lengthy prison sentences for setting fire to three synagogues in Sacramento, California, and a building housing an abortion clinic in 1999. The fires caused more than $3 million in damage.

Hate literature found at the site of the Sacramento fires blamed Jews for NATO's activities in Kosovo. Prosecutors described the brothers as known extremists who followed hate groups such as World Church of the Creator and Aryan Nations.