Attorneys for the state and defense clashed Tuesday and Wednesday during the capital murder trial of a woman accused of hiring a man to kill the Hartselle father of her daughter, arguing over whether jurors could hear evidence about the victim’s alleged past conduct and the couple’s custody dispute.
The first two days of the trial of Madison resident Jaclyn Elaine Skuce, 43, included testimony from several state witnesses, most of them law enforcement officers involved in the investigation into the July 24, 2020, killing of Anthony Larry Sheppard, 41, at his Dawson Street Southwest home. Skuce is charged with three counts of capital murder and has remained incarcerated without bond at Morgan County Jail since her arrest on Sept. 2, 2020.
Skuce appeared in court Tuesday with her attorneys, Catherine Phillips Carter of Hartselle, Wendy Lopez of Decatur, and Anne Elisabeth Poe of Huntsville. Assistant District Attorneys Garrick Vickery and Joe Lewis represented the state…