Disgraced ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh, already serving two life sentences for the murder of his wife and son, has been sentenced to 40 years for federal financial crimes.
The 55-year-old will serve his sentence simultaneously with a 27-year sentence for state financial crimes.
He will also need to pay almost $US9 million ($13.8 million) in restitution to dozens of clients he took settlement money from or inflated fees for.
It is a sentence that means he will likely spend the rest of his life in jail, even if his murder charges are overturned on appeal.
'It's bad': The murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh
The latest sentencing hearing is the latest in a long-running saga that set the eyes of the world on a family that once seemed untouchable.
Richard "Alex" Murdaugh was the patriarch of a legal dynasty in the small county of Hampton, South Carolina.
That dynasty began to crumble with the shooting death of his wife, Maggie, and his youngest son, Paul, in mid-2021.
Alex Murdaugh said he arrived home to the family's sprawling 716-hectare estate in Islandton on June 7 to find the bodies of 52-year-old Maggie and 22-year-old Paul.
Both had been shot multiple times. Both were lying in front of the family's dog kennel.
In a 911 call, Alex Murdaugh can be heard telling the operator: "I've been up to it now, it's bad."
Theories began to circulate almost immediately.
Paul Murdaugh had in 2019 earlier allegedly crashed the family boat into a bridge, throwing several passengers into the water and killing one.
In 2015 the body of 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found on the road in Hampton.
The case was ruled a hit-and-run. Two weeks after the Murdaugh killings, officials announced they were reopening investigations into Smith's death.
Alex Murdaugh and his surviving son, Buster, announced a $US100,000 reward for any information.
"I want to thank everyone for the incredible love and support that we have received over the last few weeks," he said in a statement at the time.
"Now is the time to bring justice for Maggie and Paul."
Just over two months later he would be forced to resign from the family law firm, accused of misusing millions of dollars.
The attempted suicide, the missing money and the murder trial
One day after his resignation, there would be another 911 call — Alex Murdaugh had been shot in the head.
He would claim he had stopped for a flat tyre on September 4. The shooter had pulled up alongside, he said, and shot him.
On September 6, he released a statement saying he would enter a rehab program.
Police would later say Alex Murdaugh had asked a former client to shoot and kill him, a move which would allow Buster Murdaugh to collect a $US10 million life insurance payment.
At the same time, they announced an investigation into the 2018 death of the Murdaughs' housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
In the months that followed Alex Murdaugh would be charged with fraud and conspiracy for the suicide scheme and for stealing millions of dollars from Ms Satterfield's sons.
He would not be indicted on two counts of murder until July 14, 2022.
State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) chief Mark Keel said agents had worked "day in and day out to build a case against the person responsible for the murders of Maggie and Paul and to exclude those who were not".
"At no point did agents lose focus on this investigation. From the beginning I have been clear, the priority was to ensure justice was served.
"Today is one more step in a long process for justice for Maggie and Paul."
The trial garnered international attention, magnified by the release of a Netflix documentary alleging decades of corruption and cover-ups linked to the Murdaugh legal dynasty.
On March 2, 2023, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of the murder of Paul and Maggie.
The latest chapter in long-running Murdaugh saga
This week marked likely the final time Alex Murdaugh walked into court to receive a sentence.
The 22 federal counts were the final charges outstanding for Alex Murdaugh.
It was these offences — the theft of millions of dollars from his law firm and his clients across decades — that led him to kill his wife and son, it was alleged during the murder trial.
With his financial crimes about to be revealed, prosecutors argued, the murder of Maggie and Paul was about buying time to figure a way out.
State and federal investigators said Alex Murdaugh stole from clients with debilitating injuries and who needed money for medical care.
He was also charged with stealing from his family's law firm and helping run a drug ring to launder money.
In federal court, he faced 14 counts of money laundering, five counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The largest scheme involved Ms Satterfield's sons.
After her death in a fall at the Murdaugh family home, Alex Murdaugh promised to take care of her family — then stole $US4 million in a wrongful death settlement.
Ms Satterfield's sister, Ginger Hadwin, said in November the housekeeper had loved the Murdaughs as if they were family.
"To have her loyalty and love and her trust betrayed by you is very hard to understand," she said.
"I just don't understand. Did you not have a soul?"
Federal prosecutors said they had found 11 more victims than state investigators, adding Alex Murdaugh had stolen nearly $US1.3 million from the additional victims.
Prosecutors had asked the judge for a harsher sentence, stating FBI agents still had questions about what happened to the money and about whether a so-far unnamed lawyer had helped with Alex Murdaugh's schemes.
At his sentencing this week, Alex Murdaugh blamed an opioid addiction spanning nearly two decades.
He offered to meet with victims, saying he felt "guilt, sorrow, shame, embarrassment, humiliation".
"There’s not enough time and I don't possess a sufficient vocabulary to adequately portray to you in words the magnitude of how I feel about the things I did," he said.
The judge did not agree with Alex Murdaugh's explanation.
"No truly impaired person could pull off these complex transactions," US District Judge Richard Gergel said of the maze of fake accounts, juggled checks and money movements that hid the thefts.
Murdaugh's bid for new double-murder trial denied
Alex Murdaugh made a bid for a new trial but was denied earlier this year.
His legal team accused a court clerk of jury tampering, but all 12 jurors have said no comments made by any court staff ultimately influenced their verdict.
Residents in his rural community have said they still grapple with the aftermath of the high-profile case.
Buster Murdaugh, who testified in his father's defence, has complained about being followed and photographed.
Other family members have said they still don't know what happened the day Paul and Maggie were killed.
Despite the court decision ruling out jury tampering, Alex Murdaugh's regular appeals against his murder conviction have yet to begin.
He has promised not to appeal his sentence for financial crimes as part of a plea deal with the prosecution.
He has always maintained his innocence.
ABC/AP
