A former Marine who beheaded a retired screenwriter before murdering his neighbor was given two life sentences without parole Friday.

Keven Graff, 31, described by his lawyer as “very, very mentally ill,” pleaded guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to the June 2004 murder of Robert Lees, 91 and his neighbor, Dr. Morley Engelson, in order to escape death penalty as part of a deal with prosecutors. In addition to the murder counts, Graff pleaded guilty to sexual penetration by a foreign object, torture, mayhem and first-degree residential burglary involving each of the victims.

“Other people say I’m mentally ill. Apparently I am, because who in their right mind could do something like this. I can say I’m sorry, but sorry doesn’t cut it,” Graff said in Court, adding that he had struggled to understand his action, the Los Angeles Times quotes him.

According to prosecutors, Graff was living in a pickup truck on June 13, 2004, when he broke into the home of Lees, a television and movie writer who had been blacklisted during the 1950s and 1960s. Graff tortured and beheaded Lees with a cleaver. He then took his head with him as he entered Engelson’s home. He attacked Engelson with a fireplace poker and then stabbed him. Graff was arrested a day after the police found Engelson and Lees’ head. Lees’ body was found at his home by his life partner, Helen Colton who was then 86.

“The thing that I miss the most about Bob is the feel of his arms when he hugged me. He had very strong upper arms. Being hugged by him always made me feel safe and protected. But they were not strong enough to ward off your blows,” Colton told Graff in Court.

An examination on Graff’s mental state made by mental health experts at his lawyer request concluded that he was mentally ill and suffered delusions that sometimes included a belief that he was Jesus Christ. In fact, he was receiving mental health treatment from the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Long Beach before the killings.

In addition to prison, Graff was also ordered to pay $9,900 in restitution and court fees, including $700 in funeral costs to the Lees family that will be donated to a college scholarship fund.