WASHINGTON - Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer convicted in a high-profile trial in 2023 of murdering his wife and son, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on April 1 for financial crimes.

Murdaugh, 55, scion of an elite family of judges and attorneys, is already serving a life sentence for the June 2021 murders of his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, at the family hunting estate.

Murdaugh pleaded guilty in 2023 to state charges of stealing millions of dollars from clients of his prominent personal injury firm, and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

He was back in court on April 1 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 US Attorney Adair Boroughs said the disbarred lawyer’s “financial crimes were extensive, brazen, and callous”.

“He stole indiscriminately from his clients, from his law firm, and from others who trusted him,” Mr Boroughs said.

Murdaugh’s televised three-week murder trial in 2023 captivated viewers nationwide and outside the country.

Evidence from his son’s cell phone indicated Murdaugh had been 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 to 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 docu-dramas on the case. AFP