Gunman who killed eight people across three metro Atlanta spas pleads GUILTY to four murders landing him life without parole - but he still faces the death penalty over other four slayings

Robert Aaron Long, 22, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four of the eight murders 

The gunman accused of killing eight people across three metro Atlanta spas has pleaded guilty to four of the murders, sparing him the death penalty and landing him with life without parole for those slayings. 

Robert Aaron Long, 22, appeared in court in Cherokee County Tuesday morning after reaching a plea deal admitting to all charges of malice murder, felony murder, attempt to commit murder and aggravated assault in the county.

He told the court he had originally planned to commit suicide that day and was sitting in his car outside the spa drinking bourbon when he decided to instead 'punish' other people. 

Long still faces the death penalty over the other four murders which are being prosecuted in Fulton County.  

He was indicted in Fulton County last month where he faces charges of domestic terrorism with a hate crime enhancement in addition to murder. 

The white suspect is accused of going on a mass shooting rampage at two Asian massage parlors in Atlanta and one in Cherokee County back on March 16. 

Eight people were killed in the attacks, six of them women of Asian descent. 

They are: Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33; Paul Andre Michels, 54; Xiaojie Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; Soon C. Park, 44; Suncha Kim, 69, and 63-year-old Yong Yue.  

Long told the judge Tuesday he had struggled with his 'obsessions' with pornography and sex and was feeling suicidal when he carried out the attacks. 

'I never felt like I had a lot of control over these urges and it felt obsessive to the point it would occupy a lot of thought space,' he said.

The 22-year-old said he had sought treatment but it did not seem to work and he decided he wanted to kill himself.    

When asked why he felt so concerned about his pornography obsession, he said he believed it is 'making sport' out of something he believes should only be between a married couple.   

He told the court he had originally planned to commit suicide that day and was sitting in his car outside the spa drinking bourbon when he decided to instead 'punish' other people

Long told the judge Tuesday he had struggled with his 'obsessions' with pornography and sex

'It's taking something that I believe is meant for a monogamous relationship, making sport of it without any relationship,' he said. 

'And taking sex out of its context that I believe to only be correct in a marriage relationship.'

On the day of the mass shooting, Long told the judge he purchased a gun to commit suicide but 'was scared of killing myself.' 

He said he then went to liquor store and bought some bourbon, before driving to Young's Asian Massage near Acworth, a city about 32 miles northwest of Atlanta in Cherokee County.  

'I decided to try and go there to act out the sexually received - the sexual favors and my hope was that I would hate myself enough at that point and possess enough self-loathing to end my own life,' he said. 

Long said he sat in front of the parlor drinking alcohol for about an hour and that it was then that he came up with a plan to kill other people who he blamed for his sexual fantasies.  

'I deciding if I wanted to go in or end it then and there and I started feeling drunk and in that time period while I was sitting in the car was when I began thinking about killing other people inside there,' he said.   

Long said he went inside the parlor and paid for mutual masturbation. Afterward, he went to the bathroom.

When he came out of the bathroom, this was when he opened fire.  

He told the court he had visited the parlor many times prior to the day but did not recognize any of the people inside. 

Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace told the court Tuesday Long was motivated by a 'sex addiction' and his desire to eliminate sources of his temptation, but not by any hate or prejudice against Asian people. 

'All of the evidence that was gathered with regard to Cherokee County, your honor, came to the same conclusion, that this crime was not motivated by a bias or hate against Asian Americans,' she said. 

'This was not any kind of hate crime,' she said.

Wallace said prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty if Long didn't plead guilty. 

However, all the relatives of the victims they had been able to contact are supportive of the plea deal, she added.

Long took the stand where he told the judge he understood is rights to a trial and agreed to taking the deal.  

Young's Asian Massage, near Acworth, a city about 32 miles northwest of Atlanta in Cherokee County. Long pleaded guilty to the four murders at the spa

In the March 16 mass shooting, Long is believed to have first opened fire at Young's Asian Massage, near Acworth, a city about 32 miles northwest of Atlanta in Cherokee County. 

He allegedly killed four at the spa before driving to Atlanta and opening fire in Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta, killing three.

He then allegedly crossed the street to the Aromatherapy Spa, shooting another victim dead there. 

A ninth victim - Elcias R Hernandez-Ortiz, 30 - was shot in the throat, forehead, lungs and stomach, but survived and is expected to recover. 

Long then went on the run and was driving to Florida to target porn-industry locations when he was arrested 150 miles south of Atlanta. 

Officers rammed his Hyundai off the road to take him into custody where he is said to have confessed to the killings.    

Law enforcement officials confer outside Gold Spa following the shooting on March 16