Saudi Prince Guilty of Murdering Servant 

A Saudi prince who had admitted to beating his servant to death but pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and grievous bodily harm with intent was found guilty Tuesday by a London court, according to AFP.

Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir al Saud (pictured), 34, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah through his mother, killed Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz in a luxury London hotel on February 15.

Throughout the trial several witnesses and tabloids alleged that the two were lovers. The prince denied this claim repeatedly, though the court heard testimony that the prince had ordered gay escorts in London and had frequently looked at websites for gay massage parlors and escort agencies.

Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, and, as prosecutor Bobbie Cheema told England's Old Bailey central criminal court during the trial, it “carries the death penalty, which is still applied in some cases.”

During the two-week trial, the court heard that the prince and his servant had been staying at London's Landmark Hotel for nearly a month as part of an “extended holiday” that had also taken them to Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Morocco.

An autopsy found that “Abdulaziz had suffered heavy blows to the head, injuries to the brain and ears and severe neck injuries consistent with strangulation by hand,” AFP reported.

The prince, who will be sentenced Wednesday, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.