Two Russians convicted of abducting and killing five Los Angeles-area businesspeople deserve to be put to death, a U.S. prosecutor said Friday.

The two men, who have shown no remorse, were found guilty of killing the five people and dumping their bodies in a Northern California reservoir, Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan DeWitt told jurors in her closing argument in the penalty phase of their trial.Iouri Mikhel, 41, and Jurijus Kadamovas, 40, "had the choice to let their victims go, and they chose instead to kill them," even when ransoms were paid, DeWitt said.

"They showed no mercy in how they killed their victims. They showed no shame in how they spent their money ... and they have not shown one ounce of remorse since then, either," DeWitt said.

The prosecutor argued that each of the killings, taken alone, would be enough to show that Mikhel and Kadamovas deserve to die.

The fact That they kidnapped and killed four men and one woman in a four-month period between late 2001 and early 2002 "is truly horrific," she said.

Mikhel and Kadamovas recruited accomplices -- three of whom pleaded guilty and testified against them -- and targeted victims in the Russian emigre community, taking in a total of about 1.2 million U.S. dollars in ransom. Before they were caught, they were planning to scout for more targets, according to court papers.

The five victims were taken hostage after being lured to business meetings, then suffocated with plastic bags or strangled. Three of the victims were targeted because the kidnappers believed they were wealthy, and two were kidnapped solely as bait to lure the final victim, Beverly Hills resident George Safiev.

The bodies were dumped into New Melones Reservoir, where they were recovered by authorities.

"Life had no value for either of them (the convicted)" DeWitt said. She said they "turned to killing to finance their lavish lifestyles".

The jury's deliberations on whether to recommend death could begin as early as Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua