A woman convicted this month of ordering a hit man to kill the Hartselle father of her youngest daughter has appealed after a Morgan County circuit judge denied her motion for a new trial, court records show.
Jaclyn Elaine Skuce, 43, of Madison, was convicted May 8 of three counts of capital murder in the July 24, 2020, shooting death of Anthony Larry Sheppard, 41. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Skuce’s attorneys, Catherine Phillips Carter, Anne Elisabeth Poe and Wendy Lopez, requested a new trial Thursday, arguing Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell made several legal errors before and during trial that unfairly hurt the defense. Their primary argument was that Skuce’s Sept. 2, 2020, confession should have been suppressed…