Brian Holliman, a Caledonia man convicted of murder in the 2008 shooting death of his wife, has lost his appeal to the state Supreme Court.
In 2013, a jury convicted Holliman of murdering his wife inside their Caledonia home.
Holliman initially told law enforcement officers Laura Lee Holliman’s death was a suicide. He later said he had been holding the shotgun that killed her, but claimed it was an accident.
Jurors did not agree. Holliman was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life behind bars.
This summer, he appealed the conviction to the state’s high court. He claimed, among other things, that some evidence presented to the jury was improper. He also claimed the evidence of “deliberate design” was insufficient to lead to a murder conviction.
The state’s high court, in its decision released Thursday, disagreed.
“In this case, (prosecutors) presented copious evidence that Holliman had harbored deliberate design to kill when he shot Laura,” the ruling states. “Holliman and Laura were not engaged in friendly horseplay when the shooting occurred. Rather, Laura had asked Holliman for a divorce that morning, and Holliman was angry.”
Holliman’s defense attorneys, in legal briefs submitted to the state Supreme Court, had argued that he should have been convicted of manslaughter, if anything. Manslaughter carries a maximum possible penalty of 20 years behind bars.
Holliman is 34. He remains in the custody of state Department of Corrections on a life sentence.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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