PEORIA — A trio of appellate judges flatly rejected claims by a former Baptist missionary, convicted two years ago of murdering his wife on Valentine’s Day, that his trial was unfair.
In a 54-page order, the judges with the 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa went through all 11 items that Nathan Leuthold thought had gone wrong with the trial or with motions that were granted before the mid-summer 2014 jury trial and argued none of them had merit.
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Leuthold, 41, was convicted and then sentenced to 80 years in prison for the Feb. 14, 2013, death of his wife, Denise. He staged a break-in at his in-laws’ home, 700 W. Mossville Road, where he and his family were staying, to cover his tracks, prosecutors said at trial. Prosecutors said his motive was to make way for his mistress, a 21-year-old Lithuanian exchange student the couple sponsored.
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Most of the claims dealt with specific legal issues such as statements made by prosecutors or whether a statement made by Leuthold should have been barred for trial.
Judges Vicki Wright, Robert Carter and William Holdridge said, in plain language, that one assertion — there wasn’t enough evidence — just wasn’t true.
“For these reasons, we reject defendant’s contention that no rational trier of fact could have found defendant guilty of first-degree murder,” they wrote.
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Leuthold also challenged the admission of a handwritten note from his wife where she complained about their marriage and said “he wanted her dead.” He argued it wasn’t legally proper to admit that, but the judges said it was. They also pointed out that a forensic search of his laptop computer showed he had searched for ways to kill people including how to silence a .40-caliber Glock, which was the type of handgun he owned. He also looked for ways to kill a person by electrocution, lethal injection and methods of suicide, according to testimony at trial.
The trial was the first in the region to use a new policy allowing live real-time reporting from the courtroom as well as cameras. It was followed by thousands on social media and was the subject of a “Dateline NBC” news special just days after Leuthold was sentenced.
Andy Kravetz is the Journal Star public safety reporter. He can be reached at 686-3283 and [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.
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