Christopher Speight, Va. man charged with killing eight and shooting down state police helicopter, pleads guilty

(CBS/AP) APPOMATTOX, Va. - A man accused of killing eight people in a 2010 shooting rampage near his rural Virginia home, and then shooting at a state police helicopter, pleaded guilty Friday to several charges.

PICTURES: Virginia Family Massacre Victims

Christopher Speight, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts of capital murder, one count of attempted capital murder of a police officer and five firearms counts

The former security guard was arrested on Jan. 20, 2010, after an overnight manhunt near the Appomattox home he shared with his sister, her husband and their two children. Those family members, two neighbors, their teenage daughter and a teenage boy were killed in the shootings.

The victims' families planned to address the court after Speight entered his plea.

Speight surrendered at daybreak after a manhunt in the woods. He was unarmed and wearing a bulletproof vest.

According to court records, investigators later seized 42 homemade explosive devices and fuses, multiple rounds of ammunition, several assault rifles and a 9mm pistol from Speight's home.

Family members and others who knew Speight said at the time that he had a history of mental problems and had been obsessed with the mistaken notion that his sister, Lauralee Sipe, was plotting to kick him out of the house they inherited after their mother's death in 2006.

Five months after the shootings, a judge sent Speight to a state mental hospital for treatment after a psychologist found the defendant was too mentally ill to assist his lawyers or stand trial. The case remained on hold for the next couple of years as attorneys dealt with pretrial motions and awaited additional mental evaluations.

The shooting victims included Speight's sister and her husband, Dwayne Sipe, both 38, and their 4-year-old son, Joshua. Also killed were Morgan Dobyns, Lauralee Sipe's 15-year-old daughter from a previous marriage; Morgan's friend Emily Quarles, 15; Emily's boyfriend Ronald "Bo" Scruggs, 16, and her parents, Karen and Jonathan Quarles, both 43.

Two years after the shootings, officials said for the first time that they believed Speight killed the three Sipes two days before fatally shooting the other five.

Speight was also charged with firing at a state police helicopter, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

Complete coverage of Christopher Speight on Crimesider