BRIEFLY Judge upholds conviction mother who killed neighbor

BRIEFLY

Judge upholds conviction mother who killed neighbor

EARLY (AP) — A judge has upheld the murder conviction of an Iowa mother who shot and killed her 20-year-old neighbor in 2001.

Judge Michael Moon rejected an application for post-conviction relief filed by Tracey Richter, who’s serving life in prison in the slaying of 20-year-old Dustin Wehde.

Prosecutors contend Richter lured Wehde into her home in the tiny northwest Iowa town of Early, and shot him several times in her bedroom. They say she killed Wehde as part of a plot to frame her ex-husband during a custody battle.

Richter contends she acted in self-defense during a home invasion. She argued her 2011 conviction was tainted by errors at the trial by her defense lawyer, the prosecutor and the judge.

Moon rejected all of those arguments in a 30-page ruling last month.

New UI president starts work, will live in leased town house

IOWA CITY (AP) — The University of Iowa’s new president is starting his job, and when he goes home at night, he’ll be able to hang up his coat in a $2,000-a-month town house.

UI President Bruce Harreld starts his position Monday after weeks of protests from faculty and students angered by his limited academic credentials and the process the Board of Regents took in hiring the former IBM executive.

Harreld and his wife, Mary, will live in the town house while the university president’s official residence is being repaired.

An estimated $1.5 million in deferred maintenance and repairs will take most of the academic year on the 13,000-squarefoot official residence in Iowa City.

Much of the building is used for public events.