A man who killed his ex-girlfriend's lover after making several threats has lost an appeal with the Utah Court of Appeals.
In a decision released Friday, a three-judge panel upheld the first-degree murder conviction of Robert Jones and rejected claims that Jones' attorney botched his defense.Jones entered the home of Kim Chapman on March 11, 1983, and found Chapman with Beverly Jones watching television in the basement. Jones and Beverly Jones, although not related, had lived together for three years, ending in 1982.
Although both sides presented different stories as to what happened next, by the time Jones left the house, Chapman was dead of gunshot wounds to the head and chest and Beverly Jones was seriously injured. Jones later told a police officer he killed Chapman.
The judges rejected Jones' claim that his attorney should have tried to convince the jury that the gun used in the crime belonged to Beverly Jones. Jones said such evidence would have bolstered his contention that he entered the home with no thought of killing anyone.
But the judges said Jones' attorney was pursuing a reasonable strategy.
"Attempting to show that defendant was incapable of intentionally or knowingly shooting Kim and Beverly, counsel wanted to portray a lovesick and cowardly defendant with only one problem in life: his affection for Beverly," wrote judge Pamela T. Greenwood.
If the attorney pursued the gun angle, other detrimental evidence about Jones' character would have been given to the jury, Greenwood said.
The judges also noted that Jones twice admitted shooting Chapman and that he had previously threatened to do so, tried to get others to help him do so and bought a gun and began practicing with it prior to the murder.