Millionaire Manhunt

Wanted For Murder, A Man Evades Authorities For Nearly Two Decades

(CBS)  The jury’s verdict comes back in less than five hours, finding Jim Sullivan guilty of malice murder.

It’s a bittersweet moment for the McClintons — and a sweet one for the prosecution.

"There's no way to describe what it felt like to look at them. I looked over my shoulder and locked eyes with them. And it was the best feeling in the world," says Ross.

Not, of course, for Samuel, who thinks the jury just couldn’t get past those damning phone calls. "You have these series of phone calls that are absolutely inexplicable. I’ve never been able to describe these phone calls to anybody and have them think anything other than, ‘He must be guilty,’" he says.

The sentence is still to be decided for Sullivan: life or death.

"If there was something else I could do to Jim or the state could do to Jim that would be worse than the death penalty, I would go for that.

Lita’s family is allowed to testify to the suffering Sullivan has caused.

"I have looked forward to this day for many years. Should I forgive him? I cannot. Should I forgive him? I will not," JoAnn McClinton says on the stand.

No one from Sullivan's own family steps forward to defend him. He has been estranged from his four children for years.

Sullivan's eldest son, James, can hardly contain his contempt. "He is my father. But he's not my dad, he tells 48 Hours. "He's not a human, he doesn't have a human relationship."

Asked if there's something about this person that's inherently evil, James says, "Yes."

Sullivan’s brother Frank definitely agrees. The best man at Jim’s first wedding, he’s not in his corner today. "My brother has this raw, numbing evil that very few people in society get, fortunately, they have to confront – and I've met this kind of evil in him," he says.

Before the sentencing, Jim Sullivan was offered a chance to say something. He declined.

The jurors did not give him death penalty, instead imposing a sentence of life in prison without parole. Without a successful appeal, Jim Sullivan certainly will die in prison.

Prosecutors give Belinda Trahan a lot of credit for the verdict. She says she has no regrets about stepping forward. "There was justice served. And the McClintons finally got their justice. They’re wonderful people," she says.

Asked what they said to her, Belinda says, "They said ‘Thank you’ and gave me a hug. They’re just really great people.'"

It was a long journey to justice, this quest for a one-time dashing millionaire undone, finally, at age 64 by his own greed.

"He's taken something that we can't ever get back. There is no closure when you've lost a child," says JoAnn McClinton. "You can live with it better, but there is no closure."

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A Superior Court judge denied Jim Sullivan a new trial. His lawyers are now appealing the guilty verdict.

Tony Harwood, the convicted hit man, is scheduled to be released from prison in 2017.

Lita's parents have not received any of the civil judgment, now worth $9 million, against Jim Sullivan.