State v. Wood

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Prager, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, Jeffrey J. Wood, from a conviction of murder in the second degree (K.S.A. 21-3402), after trial on a charge of first-degree murder. This case arose out of a homicide which occurred in Lenexa, Kansas, on December 8, 1979. It was undisputed that the defendant’s wife, Jaylene Wood, was killed by a charge from a 20-gauge shotgun while she was sitting on a couch in the couple’s home. After Jaylene was killed, the defendant admittedly shot himself intentionally with another charge from the same gun.

The…