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Atlanta man convicted of killing his secret boyfriend then hiding his body in a closet

Prosecutors said William Morgan wrapped the body in plastic, lowered the temperature to 45 degrees, then lit scented candles before leaving.

ATLANTA — A Fulton County Superior Court judge has sentenced a 37-year-old Atlanta man to prison for the rest of his life without parole. 

This comes after a jury convicted him for the October 2016 murder of his secret lover, then hiding his body, along with other crimes.

According to courtroom testimony, in 2016, William Morgan and 43-year-old Brian Campbell were intimately involved in a secret affair. The men met each other a year earlier at a club in Atlanta and eventually moved in together.

They were both married to women; however, Morgan and his wife were separated. Campbell's family lived in Delaware, but his job required him to live in Atlanta.

Prosecutors said that in October 2016, Morgan was addicted to methamphetamines and was financially reliant on Campbell. Morgan had stolen Campbell's Land Rover vehicle, guns, and watches during the Labor Day holiday, a month earlier.

Morgan's drug addiction, his financial reliance on Campbell and the complications caused by the fact that both men were married and while being engaged in a secret romance led Campbell to consider ending their relationship.

RELATED: Body covered in plastic found in closet; man charged with murder

Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Willam Morgan, 37, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the October 2016 murder of 43-year-old Brian Campbell and other associated crimes.

According to courtroom testimony, Morgan understood what Campbell's intentions were and, on Oct. 1, 2016, after Morgan and Campbell had attended a sports car race in Braselton with friends, Morgan shot Campbell in the head twice inside their shared apartment on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

Morgan stole two of Campbell's high-end watches, an iPhone, a handgun, an iPad and his wallet with various credit cards. Morgan then lowered the temperature inside the apartment to 45 degrees, wrapped Campbell's body in trash bags, then hiding him in a closet.

Before leaving the apartment, Morgan lit a scented candle and placed it near the closet where Campbell's body was located, prosecutors said.

When Campbell stopped responding to his wife's communications, she contacted Atlanta Police and filed a missing person report. His vehicle was found abandoned in Jacksonville, Alabama on Oct. 5, 2016 - four days after the murder.

Prosecutors said that Morgan had tried to sell Campbell's watches to a pawn shop in Alabama but, when they denied his attempts, he sold them to private residents.

On Oct. 18, 2016, a fugitive unit found Morgan inside a residence in Jacksonville, Alabama.

When officers found Morgan, he engaged in a standoff with law enforcement but eventually surrendered. He admitted to living with Campbell and stealing his property but denied committing the murder.

Morgan had been previously convicted in Alabama in 2002, 2003, and 2012 on charges of aggravated assault, possession of a forged instrument, resisting an officer, escape, passing counterfeit obligations and securities, burglary, and domestic violence assault.

In this case, Morgan was convicted of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft by taking, financial transaction card theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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