Former Uber driver pleads guilty for killing six persons

A former Uber driver Jason Dalton has pleaded guilty on Monday for killing six persons during a 2016 shooting spree in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Prosecutors said they would agree to the plea if Dalton took responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty to all counts against him. The move came during jury selection.

Four people were killed at a restaurant and two at a car dealership in the shootings in the city of Kalamazoo. Jason Dalton, 48, had initially blamed the app for controlling his "mind and body".

But he changed his plea shortly before his trial was due to begin. No deal was offered to Dalton for the guilty plea, prosecutors said.

His charges consist of six counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and eight charges relating to firearms offences. He now faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.

During a news conference on Monday, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said he and his team were happy to reach this resolution in the case, but he doesn't know if the community will ever get an answer as to why Dalton carried out the shootings.

"I don't know whether there will ever be a satisfactory answer as to why he did it ... the 'why' question is one that haunts us," Getting said.

He also said had the case gone to trial, the prosecution had more than 30 witnesses and more than 100 pieces of evidence ready.

Dalton, who submitted his plea while jury selection was taking place, did so despite the objections of his attorney.

He told the judge at the Kalamazoo County court that he had made the decision of his own free will, adding that he had "wanted this for quite a while".

Although none of the victims were Uber customers, police said Dalton continued to pick up passengers during the shooting spree in Kalamazoo, a small city about 150 miles (241km) west of Detroit.

The shootings took place on a Saturday evening at three locations - outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Kia car dealership, and an apartment block.

Following his arrest that evening, Uber confirmed that Dalton was a driver registered with the app-based cab-hailing company, issuing a statement saying that it was "horrified and heartbroken" at the violence.

Dalton had undergone background checks but passed because he had no criminal record, Uber said. Ghosn, who was arrested first on Nov. 19, has been re-arrested twice on different charges since then, a tactic often used by Japanese prosecutors to keep suspects in detention.

He has been held at the Tokyo Detention Center, a spartan facility where small rooms have a toilet in the corner and no heater - a far cry from the jet-setting lifestyle Ghosn was accustomed to. His son, Anthony Ghosn, said his father had lost 10 kgs (22 pounds) during his detention, according to France's weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Under Japanese law, suspects can be detained without charges for up to 23 days, and then re-arrested on separate allegations.

Ghosn has been formally charged with under-reporting his income. On Dec. 21, he was re-arrested, but not indicted, on allegations of aggravated breach of trust. In the latter, Ghosn is accused of transferring personal investment losses worth 1.85 billion yen ($17 million) to the carmaker.

On Dec. 31, the Tokyo District Court granted prosecutors' request to extend Ghosn's detention by 10 days until Jan. 11.

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Nissan, which has ousted Ghosn from its board, has said a whistleblower investigation also uncovered personal use of company funds and other misconduct.