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Iowa City, IA (KICD) -- The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the first-degree murder conviction.
That conviction was of a northwest Iowa woman serving life in prison for a 2001 fatal shooting. Tracey Richter was found guilty of fatally shooting a neighbor in her home.
The Iowa Court of Appeals Wednesday rejected Richter's argument that prosecuters failed to overcome her claim that the shooting of 20-year old Dustin Wehde was in self defense.
Richter shot and killed Wehde in her home in the northwestern Iowa town of Early, and stated she shot Wehde to protect herself and her three children after Wehde and another man invaded her home.
Prosecutors say the home invasion claim was a hoax, and that Richter killed Wehde as part of a plot to frame her ex-husband.
The court says there was "substantial evidence" from which jurors could conclude the killing wasn't justified.
