BERLIN – Josef Scheungraber, a Nazi commander sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for killing 10 Italians in 1944, will not have to go to jail due to his deteriorating mental health, his lawyer said Thursday.

Scheungraber was found guilty of ordering the murder of the civilians in Falzano di Cortona near Tuscan Arezzo and attempting to kill another as a reprisal for attacks by Italian partisans after an 11-month trial by a Munich court.

The 93-year-old man had been allowed to remain free after his sentencing as his lawyer worked though appeals. When he lost his appeal against his conviction in 2010, his lawyer launched a new appeal that he was too unwell to go to jail.