He could be charged with tampering with the evidence of, and interfering with, a murder investigation. That’s certainly not as serious as losing your wife’s fortune.

The time frame of Charles Clay's death is not really spelled out very good. As a matter of fact it's not spelled out at all. And in the end, Sewanee only gets convicted of the Commodores murder. At least that's the way I see it. There was never a case or an investigation as to how clay died. And the audience is never subjected to any evidence as to how he was killed