An aggrieved husband has won millions off his wife's lover using an "archaic" adultery law.
North Carolina man Keith King was outraged after discovering Francisco Huizar had been having an affair with his wife for over a year, reports The Telegraph.
Furious, Mr King took Huizar to court under centuries-old English common law, claiming he had used "criminal conversation" to destroy the relationship and alienate Mr King's wife.
"My marriage was murdered. It was destroyed," he told media.
"There isn't a dollar amount that you can put on it for what I think my family's worth."
However the judge did manage to put a dollar amount on it - US$8.8 million (NZ$13m). This included US$2.2m in compensatory damages and US$6.6m in punitive damages.
But Huizar's attorney says the marriage was already declining, and will be appealing the verdict.
"My client became embroiled in a very unfortunate situation. He never sought to air the details of this situation in public," lawyer Cheri Patrick said in a statement.
"The alienation of affections law in North Carolina is archaic, demeans the obligations of spouses in a marriage and should be stricken.
"Verdicts like these ignore the realities of how and why marriages fail and remove personal responsibility for a person's own marriage."
Newshub.
