Government of the Virgin Islands v. Christensen, Arthur

OPINION OF THE COURT

HUNTER, Circuit Judge.

INTRODUCTION

1. Appellee Arthur Christensen was charged with murder in the second degree, in violation of 14 V.I.C. § 922(b)(1957). 1 Following his trial in the District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands, the jury found appellee guilty of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter (14 V.I.C. § 924(1) (1957)). 2

FACTS

2. Between six o’clock and six-thirty on the morning of April 23, 1980, appellee discovered the body of his twenty-three year old common-law wife, Ivelice Grullon de la Cruz (“Grullon”), in the bathtub of her apartment…