Former Alabama biology professorAmy Bishop avoided a death sentence by pleaded guilty to killing three colleagues and wounding three others in a 2010 shooting rampage at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

A former Alabama biology professor who pleaded guilty to killing three colleagues and wounding three others in a 2010 shooting rampage was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Monday after a jury convicted her in a shortened trial.

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Amy Bishop, avoided a death sentence by admitting earlier this month to gunning down her colleagues during a biology department staff meeting at the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

Alabama law requires a jury to decide the punishment and confirm a guilty plea for a capital murder charge.

Bishop's defense attorneys did not contest the facts of the case during the abbreviated proceedings on Monday.

"She has admitted she did these terrible things," defense attorney Robert Tuten said in his opening statement.

Bishop, a Harvard-trained biologist and mother of four, was accused of shooting her colleagues execution-style in February 2010. Colleagues believed Bishop was angry that the school had denied her tenure.

The trial on Monday took less than two hours and featured only two witnesses. One was Bishop's former colleague Debra Moriarity, who recalled how she tried to take Bishop down after the woman started firing during the meeting.

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Former Alabama professor gets life in prison