A Georgia fugitive captured on the Appalachian Trail has been found guilty of his daughter’s death.

TO A Georgia man whose 10-year-old daughter died in a house fire was convicted Friday on murder and child abuse charges, nearly four years after he and his wife fled and were later arrested on the Appalachian Trail.

William McCue, 51, was convicted of felony murder, rape, aggravated child abuse and incest and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, followed by a fourth life sentence and 120 consecutive years in prison.

His wife, Carina McCue, 42, agreed to testify against her husband and had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree cruelty to children, as well as aggravated assault and false imprisonment. He faces 90 years in prison.

Carina McCue was able to rescue her 8- and 12-year-old children when their house caught fire in 2022, but her 10-year-old daughter was trapped in the locked, windowless bathroom that served as her bedroom and died from smoke inhalation. William McCue and the couple’s then-17-year-old daughter were not home at the time of the fire.

The McCues’ son, then 15, had previously admitted to starting the fire in an attempt to escape the abusive conditions he and his siblings faced at the hands of their parents.

The couple’s surviving daughter testified in court that William McCue had repeatedly sexually assaulted her and her sister since they were young. Jurors also heard testimony that children were beaten, forced to wear shock collars and forced to stand naked on cinder blocks for hours or even days at a time. They were not allowed to use the bathrooms, but had to relieve themselves in buckets that were emptied once a week, and they were never enrolled in school or homeschooled.

The initial warrant for the McCues’ arrest in 2022 also accused the parents of “preventing the children from leaving the property for most of their lives,” in addition to depriving them of basic health care, hygiene, nutrition and education.

When that warrant was issued, the couple disappeared, sparking a two-month manhunt that culminated in their arrest on the Appalachian Trail two months later. The surviving McCue children were taken into protective custody.

«The evidence demonstrated that the children thrived once they were away from their parents, although they were developmentally and educationally behind their respective ages,» the district attorney’s office said in a statement following William McCue’s conviction.

«The treatment of these children was horrific,» District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in the statement. «This girl’s death was unacceptable and avoidable, and she and her siblings deserved better than what they received from their parents.»

Jurors deliberated for just under four hours before convicting McCue.

Cover image: William McCue (left) and Carina McCue (right). Photo via Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.

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