AUSTIN, TX — A Houston appeals court has affirmed the capital murder convictions of an Austin man for the killings of three people in their home last year, the district attorney said on Friday.

The First Court of Appeals in Houston has affirmed the May 2018 capital murder convictions of Timothy Parlin of Austin, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said. At his trial, Parlin was sentenced to automatic life imprisonment without the possibility of parole after a Travis County jury found him guilty of killing Kathy Blair, Sidney Shelton and Billie Shelton in their Austin homes.

Parlin, 53, was convicted of murdering Blair during a burglary of her home on Dec. 6, 2014. Blair was then 53 years old. He was also convicted of killing the Sheltons during a burglary of their home nine days later, on Dec. 15, 2014, the DA’s office said. Billie Shelton was 83 and her husband, Sidney was 85 years old.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling, admitting Parlin’s confessions into evidence and his statements regarding an extraneous burglary of another woman’s home and her possible murder, as proof of his plan and intent in these cases. The court also held that a detective with the Austin Police Department did not violate Parlin’s Miranda Rights during interviews with him, prosecutors said.

“We knew there were complex legal issues involved in this case and made the decision early on to assign an experienced appellate lawyer to the trial team,” Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore said in a prepared statement. “We are proud of the hard work our prosecutors put into this case and glad to see the Court’s ruling, which will bring more closure to the families of Kathy Blair and the Sheltons.”