death Bermudian pastor's son Mack Wilson.

The 22-year-old from San Bernardino, California, was also fined $10,000.

Beasley -- crippled himself after a gang shooting -- can expect to serve at least 20 years in jail before being eligible for parole.

The trial was prosecuted by a recently-formed `gang unit' from Tarrant County District Attorney's department, Fort Worth, Texas.

A district attorney spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette Beasley still faces two further charges relating to the murder.

One is aggravated robbery, and the other unlawful carrying of a weapon.

"I imagine these will be dealt with later,'' she said.

The air surrounding the American courtroom was tense throughout the case because of the trial's suspected drug links.

Prosecutor Miss Terri Moore had pressed for the maximum penalty for a non-capital murder conviction -- life imprisonment.

Her department yesterday said she was busy and unavailable for comment.

Beasley cold-bloodedly killed Mr. Wilson, a popular and star student from the Bermuda Institute, in February 1990.

It occurred in Bidecker Street -- a crime-infested part of Texas.

The 22-year-old son of Southampton and Hamilton pastor Mr. Mack Wilson Sr. was blasted to death behind the wheel of his car.

He was shot six times in the upper body with a semi-automatic handgun.

Witnesses had said a white Camaro pulled up behind his vehicle, and a man exchanged a few words with him, before firing with a handgun.

Mr. Wilson's former college roommate Mr. Eric Thompson, who was sitting in the back, was badly hurt after being shot four times.

Beasley was arrested later that month in California suspected of drugs distribution.

The murder of Mr. Wilson left colleagues and friends stunned.

The young computer enthusiast had seemed all set for a bright career after graduating from the Institute in 1984 and going off to a Texas college.

Several months before the trial, Beasley was badly injured himself in a gang-related shooting.

He was crippled after being blasted six times in a Texas bowling alley.

At the time Beasley was out on $125,000 bail following his arrest for the Wilson shooting.

It was only when he was taken to hospital that Police tracked him down.