NE Iowan Appeals Murder Sentence to Supreme Court

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for an Iowa man convicted of killing of his former girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter have appealed his sentence of two life terms in prison to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Online court records show the appeal was filed Thursday in the case of 36-year-old Casey Frederiksen. He was sentenced Monday after being found guilty in March of first-degree sexual assault and first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Evelyn Miller in 2005.

Her body was found in the Cedar River days after she was reported missing.

The appeal comes after a motion asking for a new trial was denied at Monday's sentencing. Frederiksen's attorney argued that a retrial was necessary because the jury returned verdicts that defy state law. The judge presiding over the case cited evidence that supported the convictions.