By Joy Russell Perez
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, Feb. 26, 2000; 2:13 a.m. EST

NEWTON, N.J. –– A man convicted of helping to lure two pizza delivery men to a dark, lonely country road so he and a friend could see what it felt like to kill someone was sentenced to life in prison.

Prior to sentencing Friday, 20-year-old Jayson Vreeland said he was not a murderer, but "a shy kid hoping to be understood."

Vreeland showed no reaction during sentencing, but his eyes were red, and it appeared he had been crying before court proceedings began.

Superior Court Judge Lorraine Parker sentenced Vreeland to life behind bars for his part in the 1997 murder of pizza shop owner Giorgio Gallara. She tacked on another 20 years for Vreeland's aggravated manslaughter conviction for the death of Gallara's employee, Jeremy Giordano, plus 22 years for robbery and burglary charges linked to the attack.

Authorities called the attacks thrill killings, while Vreeland's lawyer blamed his client's actions on his use of painkillers and idolization of accomplice Thomas Koskovich.

Koskovich is on death row for the killings, but because Vreeland was 17 at the time of the killings, he could not receive the death sentence.

With the judge ordering him to serve his sentences consecutively, Vreeland faces life in prison with no possibility of parole for 51 years.