Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer convicted in a high-profile trial last year of murdering his wife and son, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Monday for financial crimes.
Murdaugh, 55, head of an elite family of judges and lawyers, is already serving a life sentence for the June 2021 murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, 22, at the family hunting estate.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty last year to state charges of stealing millions of dollars from clients of his prominent personal injury firm, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
The disbarred lawyer was back in court in South Carolina on Monday for sentencing on federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and money laundering.
District Judge Richard Gergel sentenced Murdaugh to 40 years in prison, to be served concurrently with the 27 years he already received.
Murdaugh pleaded guilty to the federal charges in September, at which time lawyer Adair Boroughs said Murdaugh’s “financial crimes were extensive, brazen, and callous”.
“He stole indiscriminately from his clients, from his law firm, and from others who trusted him,” Boroughs said.
Murdaugh’s televised three-week murder trial last year captivated viewers across the United States and outside the country.
US lawyer Alex Murdaugh appeals murder conviction and life sentence
US lawyer Alex Murdaugh appeals murder conviction and life sentence
Evidence from his son’s mobile phone indicated Murdaugh was the only person with them at the estate’s dog kennels several minutes before Maggie was killed with an assault rifle and Paul with a shotgun.
Murdaugh denied killing his wife and younger son, but admitted stealing millions of dollars from clients of his law firm to feed an opioid addiction.
Even before the trial finished, Netflix and HBO rushed out docudramas on the case.
