Convicted murderer receives life sentence for sexual assault

Beaufort, SC (WOLO) — A man already in prison for murder will now spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of a 2016 rape.

According to the 14th Judicial District Attorney, Brian David Walls, 43, was found guilty of first-degree assault by a jury of equals in Beaufort County on Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, Walls was already serving a 40-year prison sentence for the murder of his disabled neighbor, 56-year-old Teresa Siegler. The murder occurred just days before the sexual assault, according to authorities. The attorney's office says Walls should have been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole under South Carolina's “two strikes” law.

Prosecutors say Walls' first victim lived in the same community and was known for feeding people in need and occasionally letting them stay overnight. Attorney Sean Thornton says Walls and two co-defendants killed Sieglar to steal her monthly disability benefits. Officials say her body was found wrapped in a blanket that had been wrapped in duct tape and set on fire.

A day after her body was found, according to Thornton, Walls sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman in the bathroom of a motel he and his co-defendants were renting. Prosecutors say the young woman who gave the men a ride to the motel was a family friend and was lured in after Walls asked her to help him carry something to the second-floor motel room.