Murderer gets double life sentence

RIDGELAND, SC- A Ridgeland, South Carolina, man convicted of killing two elderly Indian American motel workers in 2015, received a double life sentence on April 13 without the possibility of parole.

Joshua Poacher, 22, who was convicted by a jury a day earlier for murdering Hansa and Kanti Patel at the Best Western motel in Point South, South Carolina, on August. 16, 2015, was also sentenced to 30 years in prison for armed robbery and five years for having a deadly weapon.

A jury deliberated for just 45 minutes on April 12 before finding Poacher guilty of the double murders.

Poacher is the father of an eight-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. He told the court that he speaks to his children every day, despite being held in custody since the murders.

The Patels migrated to the US from Gujarat in 2007.