It took a jury just two hours to decide that William Cormier III was guilty of killing former Pensacola News Journal reporter Sean Dugas in 2012. He had claimed that his twin brother, Christopher, who was also found guilty of helping William cover the murder up, actually committed the killing.
Dugas came to know the brothers through role playing and card games, like Magic: The Gathering. The reporter had a large collection that was worth thousands of dollars. According to The Associated Press, prosecutors said that Cormier needed money, so he killed Dugas just to steal his cards.
Cormier allegedly beat Dugas with a hammer until he was dead, then buried him in a concrete-covered pit in Georgia. Christopher conspired to bury the body, prosecutors said. They sold the trading cards at shops in Georgia and Tennessee.
Cormier “took everything (Sean) had," Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Jensen said during closing arguments on Thursday. "He took his spoons, he took his furniture, he took his Magic cards, and most importantly, he took his life.”
According to the News Journal, Cormier received life in prison without parole. THe judge sentenced Christopher to 15 years as an accessory to the robbery and murder.
Dugas had been a reporter for the Pensacola paper from 2006 to 2010. “Bohemian, eclectic, unique, free spirit, all these words were used to describe Sean. The most important word to me was son. He was my only son,” his father, Christopher Dugas, said.