German court has sentenced an 88-year-old former member of the Nazi elite corps (Nazi SS) to life in prison for the murder of three Dutch civilians in 1944. <br/><br/>Heinrich Boere had told the state court in Aachen that he killed a bicycle shop owner, a pharmacist and a member of the resistance as part of a death squad. He said he and fellow members of the SS Silbertanne death squad had been informed by their superiors that the men were to be killed in retaliation for attacks by the resistance. <br/><br/>The presiding judge, Gerd Nohl, said all three killings had been carried out on a totally random basis and constituted murder. <br/><br/>According to prosecutors, Boere was a willing member of the Nazi SS, which he joined after the Netherlands was invaded in 1940.