A Florida double murderer showed up in court on Monday with the word “killer” scrawled on his own teeth and then attacked his own attorney.

After being led into the courtroom in handcuffs for a pre-sentencing hearing about the killings of an 11-year-old girl and her babysitter, Joseph Zieler, 61, motioned for his attorney, Kevin Shirley, to come over so they could speak.

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Who is Joseph Zieler?

Joseph Zieler, a man charged with murder and who was ultimately given the death punishment, leaned in to chat with his attorney in court before suddenly striking Shirley in the face with his elbow, sending him flying on the witness stand, according to courtroom footage.

Three bailiffs quickly overpowered Zieler, who was already restrained, bringing him down to the ground before escorting him out of the courtroom as witnesses screamed.

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The lawyer was able to regain some of his calm and go back to his desk. The judge was subsequently reassured by Shirley that he was well and that, as a former boxer, he had taken considerably more severe strikes than Zieler had delivered.

A judge in southwest Florida has condemned Zieler to death for the murder of an 11-year-old girl and her carer more than three decades ago.

After nearly five hours of deliberation last month, 10 of the 12 jurors recommended that Zieler be given the death penalty, according to court documents. Prior to this verdict, the same jury had found 60-year-old Zieler guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 1990 killings of 32-year-old Lisa Story and 11-year-old Robin Cornell.

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Shirley told WINK-TV he was fine after the incident. “I had no idea he was going to do something like that,” he said. “Obviously he’s been planning on that. But as he was going down, he said he was sorry he missed.”