MacKool v. State

Jim Hannah, Chief Justice.

On September 12, 2003, Ballard was stabbed to death in her home. Subsequently, Ms. Ballard’s daughter, Leslie MacKool, and her husband, appellant Mike MacKool, were charged with the crime. Leslie and Mike were tried separately; at both trials, Leslie admitted to killing her mother, but alleged that she was forced to do so by Mike. At his trial, Mike was convicted of first-degree murder and theft of property. He was sentenced to forty years for the first-degree murder conviction and twenty years for the theft-of-property conviction, with the sentences to be served…