LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the life sentence of a man for the 1989 murder of a Nebraska woman.
John Oldson was convicted in 2013 of second-degree murder in the death of 31-year-old Ord waitress Catherine Beard. She disappeared in 1989; her remains were found in 1992.
Oldson’s main argument in his appeal was that excerpts from his jailhouse journals – in which said he had problems with accepting rejection from women – were improperly allowed into evidence.
The high court on Friday rejected Oldson’s arguments that the excerpts were taken out of context, saying his defense team could have sought admission of other diary excerpts to give a complete picture.
Justice William Connolly disagreed with the majority on admitting the journal entries, but said the error was harmless.