An Irish citizen has been spared the death penalty for arranging his wife's murder, after a jury ruled he should get life without parole.
James Sullivan, a multimillionaire whose grandparents were Irish, had obtained an Irish passport through the consulate in New York and had fled the US for five years before being captured in Thailand.
Late on Tuesday night, Judge John Goger followed the recommendation of a jury in Atlanta, Georgia, and sentenced Sullivan to life without parole. Juror Debra Klayman later said the jury believed God should decide Sullivan's life and not the jury.
Sullivan was convicted of the 1987 murder of Lita Sullivan, whose mother, Jo Ann McClinton, is a prominent African-American state representative in Georgia.
He had arranged for an assassin disguised as a flower deliveryman to kill Ms Sullivan on the day the couple's divorce settlement was to be decided in court.
The police said Ms Sullivan was murdered as she opened the door to receive a dozen pink roses.
Trucker Phillip Harwood later admitted killing Ms Sullivan and is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter, after agreeing to testify against Sullivan.