Canadian pilot pleads guilty to double murder

A Canadian air force commander who flew the Queen pleaded guilty to the murders of two women, the sexual assaults of two others and dozens of breaking and entering charges.

Colonel Russell Williams was the commander of Canada's largest Air Force base until he was charged earlier this year.

He pleaded guilty to two first-degree murder charges, two sexual assaults and 82 breaking and entering charges in a Belleville, Ontario court. He faces an automatic sentence of life in prison with no possibility for parole for at least 25 years.

At a hearing that reduced victims' relatives to tears, lurid photos of Williams were shown one by one in court as the defendant pleaded guilty to murdering two women, sexually assaulting two others and committing dozens of break-ins in which he stole underwear from the bedrooms of girls as young as 11.

Williams, who was born in England and raised in Canada, was pictured with the Queen and Prince Philip, on the front page of the newspaper of Canadian Forces Base Trenton while he served as their pilot during a 2005 visit.

The list of his crimes is so lengthy that it is expected to take prosecuters more than a day to read out the details before he is sentenced.