Epperly v. Commonwealth

The defendant, Stephen Epperly, was tried by a jury, convicted of the first degree murder of Gina Hall, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The victim’s body was never found. The evidence was entirely circumstantial, both as to proof of the corpus delicti and as to the element of premeditation. The defendant’s appeal raises questions concerning the sufficiency of the evidence to prove these elements, the admission of evidence concerning the victim’s good character, the admission of evidence of experiments conducted with a tracking dog, and certain additional assignments of error. We affirm…