A central Iowa man has been given three life sentences after admitting in court that he fatally shot his parents and sister.

Twenty-two-year-old Chase Nicholson pleaded guilty Monday in Polk County District Court in Des Moines to killing 58-year-old Mark Nicholson 56-year-old Charla Nicholson and 24-year-old Tawni Nicholson.

Their bodies and the shotgun used to kill them were found in the family home in Bondurant on April 6 last year. Nicholson surrendered the next day in Neosho, Missouri.

He said at his court hearing that he had been hearing voices in his head that day telling him to shoot his parents and sister but not himself.

Chase Nicholson initially pleaded not guilty. His attorneys were planning to use an insanity defense.