Commonwealth v. Heller

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Horace Stern,

Defendant killed his wife and the jury found him guilty of murder of the first degree with penalty of life imprisonment. He appeals from his conviction. .

The parties had been married for ten years and the wife was thirty years of age. At the trial defendant testified that she was a hypochondriac, extremely nervous, and continually expressing the fear that she would die in her sleep; the result was that she prevented his obtaining adequate rest and peace of mind. At six o’clock on the morning of May 18,1950, leaving his wife still sleeping, he arose, dressed,…