Convicted killer Alex Murdaugh didn't tell the truth when FBI agents repeatedly asked him where more than $6 million he stole ended up and whether another attorney not yet identified helped him steal from clients and his law firm, federal prosecutors said in court documents Tuesday. The prosecutors want a judge to revoke their end of a plea deal with Murdaugh on theft and other charges and order him to serve the maximum of well over 100 years in prison when he is sentenced in Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday, reports the AP.
Murdaugh, 55, is already serving life without parole in state prison after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife and younger son. He pleaded guilty to stealing money from clients and his law firm in state court and was sentenced to 27 years, which South Carolina prosecutors said is an insurance policy to keep him behind bars in case his murder conviction is ever overturned (he is appealing). The federal case was supposed to be even more insurance, with whatever sentence Murdaugh received running at the same time as his state sentences. But that deal is in doubt after the FBI said the disbarred attorney failed a polygraph.
The test came in October, after three previous FBI interviews of Murdaugh led investigators to think he wasn't telling the full truth about where at least $6 million he stole ended up and the role of an attorney who has not been publicly identified in his crimes, federal prosecutors said. Per the polygraph, "all of Murdaugh's responses ... indicated deception," prosecutors said, reports the Post and Courier.
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State prosecutors estimated Murdaugh stole more than $12 million from clients by diverting settlement money into his own accounts or stealing from his family law firm. Federal investigators estimate at least half of that has not been accounted for, although Murdaugh has said he spent extravagantly on illegal drugs after becoming hooked on opioids. Prosecutors said they will ask for the stiffest sentence possible since the plea agreement was breached and require Murdaugh serve his federal sentence at the end of any state sentences.
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