(no subject)

[webofevil]

I have complained before about pisspoor courtroom defences. This woman appears, perhaps laudably but certainly rashly, to have gone for "interesting" over "viable":

Murder verdict for woman who claimed she shot husband during erotic dance

A jury yesterday chose to disbelieve a woman who claimed she had accidentally shot dead her husband while performing a sexy dance as the Shania Twain song "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" played in the couple's bedroom.

Linda West, 49, collapsed in the dock and her family shouted abuse as she was convicted of murder at Winchester crown court. She faces a mandatory life sentence.

The crown said that West, 49, had murdered her husband of nine weeks, Gregory West, 45, as he sat in a chair in their bedroom in Southampton last May. The blast hit Mr West in the heart, killing him instantly.

The jury found that West killed her marine engineer husband after an alcohol-fuelled row, which was so heated neighbours could hear it.

West claimed in court that she and her husband were drunk, and as an act of foreplay she ran him a bath, and then decided to perform a sexy dance to the song by Twain, one of the biggest stars in country music. She claimed her husband wanted her to use the gun as part of her erotic routine, and at the end of the track, she banged the gun on the floor to "take a bow", but the weapon went off.

As part of her defence West re-enacted the events of that night, using a piece of wood as a replica gun.

Comments

[sleeperesque.livejournal.com]

I'm actually angry. Poor soul.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

Because you believe her story? Or you don't, and you feel sorry for the husband? Or are you cross on Shania's behalf?

Covering my statement

[sleeperesque.livejournal.com]

If her story is true, I'm angered by the humiliation she has encountered whilst still grieving. If she's a liar, I'm angry with her for embarrassing her poor dead hubby. And Shania just makes me angry-full stop.

[sleeperesque.livejournal.com]

After reading it, I think I believe her story.

[lowlowprices.livejournal.com]

I believed it at first, but then why use a loaded gun?

[sleeperesque.livejournal.com]

She's obviously never done a naked dance with a gun as the prop before. Either that or she could just be a penny short of a pound!

[lowlowprices.livejournal.com]

I think the jury was probably right. If it was her gun, she should have known it was loaded; if it was his, he shouldn't have allowed her to strip off and do a sexy routine with it (although that doesn't necessarily make it murder).

I wonder if Shania Twain will press charges.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

"I didn't mean to press charges, but I was doing a sexy dance in front of the judge and..."

[alfaguru.livejournal.com]

Check your link. It seems to point to a story about gay bishops. That might have been a better defence though. "I shot him after he said he was leaving me for a gay bishop."

That neighbours overheard a heated row tends to kibosh the sexy dance story, I fear.

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

> It seems to point to a story about gay bishops.

Ha! Dammit. Not any more. I had toyed with the idea of linking to that story because of the wonderfully suggestive headline "US church eases gay bishop stance", but decided in the end it wasn't worth it.

[alfaguru.livejournal.com]

"Traditionalists bash bishops in gay rumpus"