Friday, July 17, 2015

This Blog Has Hit a Wall

It's also literally flatlined, according to hits statistics:

"Utah doctor sentenced to 15 years to life in ex-wife’s death" Associated Press  July 09, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake City pediatrician convicted of killing his ex-wife amid a bitter custody dispute was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years to life in prison.

John Brickman Wall, 51, was sentenced in the death of Uta von Schwedler, a cancer researcher, by state Judge James Blanch in a Salt Lake City courtroom as his oldest son and other family and friends watched. Wall’s sister and father sat in the front row in support of him.

Wall spoke before the packed courtroom, saying emphatically, ‘‘I did not kill Uta.’’ He vowed to appeal the conviction.

He also lamented that his four children have lost their mother and father.

‘‘I can no longer assist them and support them in achieving their hopes and dreams. Nor can I comfort them in their times of need,’’ Wall said of the children.

His son, Pelle, told the judge he wants to see his father spend the rest of his life in prison. He said his father’s portrayal of himself as the victim was despicable and has profoundly compounded the grief he and his siblings are feeling.

‘‘He’s convinced himself of an alternate reality,’’ Pelle Wall said outside court.

The sentencing came after Blanch denied motions from Wall’s attorney to overturn the conviction on evidentiary issues.

Police initially treated the death as a suicide and didn’t arrest Wall until more than a year after von Schwedler, 49, was found dead in her Salt Lake City home.

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