Alberta’s top court has dismissed an appeal by a man found guilty of stabbing his estranged wife 17 times.
The Court of Appeal of Alberta says a trial judge made no errors when he convicted Robert Dean Clifford last year of second-degree murder in the death of 31-year-old Nichole McKeith.
McKeith’s bloodied body was found at the bottom of her Wainwright home’s basement staircase in February 2017.
A medical examiner testified stab wounds near her neck and shoulder were likely caused by a two-edged object like scissors.
Clifford was living in a trailer in McKeith’s backyard at the time, as the couple had separated.
Clifford argued in his appeal that the judge erred in analysis of DNA found under McKeith’s nails, misunderstood evidence and failed to properly take into account the presumption of innocence.
“The asserted misapprehensions of evidence are either not supported by a contextual reading of the reasons of the trial judge, or otherwise do not play a central role in his reasons. He committed no errors of law. As a result, the appeal is dismissed,” the court said in its decision released Monday.