An appeals court has reinstated the murder conviction of a central Pennsylvania man accused of killing his wife and then faking an all-terrain vehicle crash to cover up the slaying.
The state Superior Court on Wednesday ordered 42-year-old Joseph Fitzpatrick III re-sentenced on the first-degree murder conviction, which carries a mandatory term of life in prison without possibility of parole.
The appeals court said prosecutors established that the defendant "committed the murder with the requisite motive and intent."
Judge Richard Renn threw out the jury's verdict and acquitted Fitzpatrick in September 2015 after the defense argued that prosecutors failed to prove he drowned 43-year-old Annemarie Fitzpatrick in a Chanceford Township creek in 2012 but told police they crashed in the water.
The defense vowed a state Supreme Court appeal.
