Bodden appeals conviction to state Supreme Court

Attorneys for convicted murderer Karen Bodden have filed an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court for a new trial.

Bodden, 45, was convicted Jan. 22 by a Douglas County District Court jury of first-degree murder of her husband, Robin Bodden, 50.

She was sentenced March 4 to a minimum of 24 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.

She is incarcerated at the Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center in North Las Vegas.

Attorneys James E. Wilson Jr. and Erik Johnson, both of Carson City, filed an appeal on March 28 to overturn the verdict.

They also appealed District Judge Dave Gamble's denial of a motion to set aside the verdict and order a new trial.

Gamble ruled on the motions prior to Bodden's sentencing.

Johnson argued there was insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction.

A jury of 10 women and two men deliberated 21Ú2 hours following a two-week trial before returning the guilty verdict. The penalty was enhanced by use of a deadly weapon.

"Clearly, the jury did not carefully consider the evidence and weigh the possibilities in two hours," Johnson wrote in his appeal request. "They were sick and tired of a long, drawn-out trial, and wanted out with a quick verdict.

"Finding Karen not guilty and facing a courtroom full of family members, police officers and prosecution witnesses they would expect to be there was not an attractive alternative. Karen was alone."

In his motion opposing a new trial, District Attorney Mark Jackson said the verdict was based on witnesses' testimony and exhibits admitted during the trial.

He said the circumstantial evidence presented during trial overwhelmingly proved the state's case that Karen Bodden murdered her husband in August 2006.

Bodden did not testify during the two-week trial. According to investigators' reports, she claimed her husband, an aircraft mechanic, had gone off with a pilot named "Ramos" to work for a drug cartel. She said she didn't report him missing because they were having marital problems.

Authorities believed she shot her husband at his Minden-Tahoe Airport hangar, drove his body to the desert near Johnson Lane, and dumped him in a shallow grave.

Records indicate he died Aug. 15-16, 2006, and his decomposed body was found three weeks later on Sept. 10.

Karen Bodden was accused of embezzling money from his business, General Aviation Services. She was on five years probation from a 2004 conviction for embezzling $44,000 from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Investigators believe she murdered him because she was afraid he would turn her in for the new embezzlement.

"The argument that she killed for greed made no sense," Johnson argued. "The only way Karen could access her husband's earnings was if he continued to earn money which required he remain alive.

"If she killed him, she would have killed the proverbial 'golden goose.'"