COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. — George E. Banks, a former prison guard who killed 13 people in a shooting spree more than 40 years ago in Luzerne County, died Sunday at a state prison in Montgomery County, the state Department of Corrections confirmed. He was 83.

Banks died of natural causes at the state Correctional Institution — Phoenix, near Philadelphia, the DOC said.

Banks slew his family, including five of his children, on Sept. 25, 1982, at homes in Wilkes-Barre and Jenkins Twp. The killings horrified the community. That early autumn day became a date of infamy .

At trial, a jury found Banks guilty and sentenced him to death. That sentence was later overturned because Banks, whom his lawyer believed to be insane, was deemed mentally incompetent.

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