State v. King

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Foth, C.:

Alice Rae King was charged with first degree murder for shooting her estranged husband three times at close range with a semi-automatic twelve gauge shotgun. She claimed self-defense, but was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and has appealed.

The evidence is largely undisputed. The Kings were married in 1968, but separated in August, 1973. There followed a series of hostile meetings over the custody of their daughter, during which William King apparently threatened the defendant on more than one occasion. In March, 1974, she filed a…