A state judge sentenced convicted killer Toby Stangel to three consecutive life prison terms with the possibility of parole Wednesday for killing one motorist and attempting to kill two others during an early morning shooting spree on Oahu roadways two years ago.

Circuit Judge Glenn Kim also ordered Stangel to serve at least 20 years of each life prison term before he is eligible for parole because he used a semiautomatic firearm to commit the crimes.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority can set higher minimums.

Deputy Prosecutor Dwight Nadamoto had asked the jurors who found Stangel guilty of murder and attempted murder in May to also find him eligible for extended prison terms of life without the possibility of parole for the safety of the public. The jurors were unable to reach unanimous agreement on that request.

Stangel’s parents asked Kim to show their son mercy by giving him a sentence that would offer him the opportunity to one day leave prison.

“Mercy drives hope,” said Michael Stangel, a pastor at North Shore Christian Fellowship.

Karen Stangel said, “Please give (Toby) the hope that some day, if he is a model prisoner, he may go free from prison. My son needs this hope and so do I.”

Kim said Toby Stangel’s long history of abusing multiple illegal drugs, with no serious attempt to quit, and his possession of a firearm made him a lethal time bomb that went off on June 3, 2011. He said he ordered Stangel to serve the life prison terms back to back because he is a danger to the community.

“What this defendant did is he took the public streets and highways from this beautiful city of ours and he turned them into literal killing zones,” Kim said.

Kim also ordered Stangel to pay $15,877 for his victims’ medical and funeral bills and a $1,115 contribution to a state fund for crime victims.

Stangel, 30, said Wednesday that he did what he did because his mind told him his life was in jeopardy.

“I was terrified and in fear of losing my life. At the time I believed I was acting out of self-defense because of the paranoia of losing my life,” Stangel said.

That was Stangel’s first public explanation for the shooting spree.

His lawyer John Schum said Stangel’s paranoia was due to his drug use. Schum said voices in Stangel’s head told him to “kill or be killed.”

Stangel shot at two motorists at a stoplight on Wai­alae Avenue near Market City in Kaimuki. He barely missed hitting Michael Pagdilao but killed 54-year-old Tammy Nguyen, a mother of 10, who was driving home to Palolo with her 16-year-old daughter.

“He sped away from that crime scene and later was confronted with the voices telling him that it’s not over, there are still people after you,” Schum said.

Stangel then drove onto the H-1 freeway, where he shot at and wounded Amie Lou Asuncion and Samson Nauputo near the Houghtailing Street exit in Kalihi. He then continued westbound and shot at two police officers at a traffic stop in Aiea.

A state jury found Stangel guilty of Nguyen’s murder and guilty of attempting to murder Pagdilao and Asuncion. The jurors found Stangel guilty of reckless endangering for injuring Nauputo and for shooting at the police officers.