Double life sentence for US lawyer for killing wife, son

South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison without parole on 3 February, a day after he was convicted of murder in the shooting deaths of his wife and son on their family estate in 2021.

Prosecutors said he gunned down his wife and son to distract from his financial crimes, including the theft of millions of dollars from his law partners and clients - money used to feed a years-long addiction to opioids and support an expensive lifestyle.

The 54-year-old former lawyer, whose family dominated the legal system in tiny Hampton County for generations, has denied any role in the killings.

Judge Clifton Newman described it as one of the "most troubling cases" he has seen, before handing Murdaugh two consecutive life terms in prison

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