A Utah pediatrician who was convicted of killing his ex-wife wants a judge to overturn his conviction, arguing that prosecutors wrongly inflated a weak, circumstantial case.
Lawyers for John Brickman Wall argued Monday in 3rd District Court that he should get a new trial in the September 2011 death of cancer researcher Uta von Schwedler, who was found dead in her bathtub.
Prosecutors contend that Wall attacked her with a knife, dosed her with an anti-anxiety drug Xanax and drowned her. Defense attorneys say the evidence shows she killed herself.
Lawyer Fred Metos contends that a forensic expert gave inaccurate testimony during trial on how 49-year-old von Schwedler could have been forced to take the anti-anxiety medication, and prosecutors overstated a discovery she'd made at work. Prosecutors say that's not true and the conviction should stand.
A jury in March convicted Wall of first-degree felony murder.
In July, Wall, 51, was sentenced to prison for 15 years to life.
Uta Von Schwedler, 49, was found dead in her Sugar House area home in 1400 block of Harrison Avenue (1365 South), on Sept. 27, 2011. Since then Salt Lake City police have quietly been investigating the suspicious death of the biologist and HIV researcher who worked at the University of Utah. The woman was found drowned in the bathtub at her home, but police are still trying to determine if her death was a homicide or suicide. Courtesy: Nils Abramson
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