Court denies death-row appeal

INDIANAPOLIS (AP):

The Indiana Supreme Court has denied the death-row appeal of a man convicted of killing his wife, her ex-husband and her 10-year-old son 12 years ago. Wayne Kubsch of Mishawaka was asking the court to grant him a new trial.

He was convicted of murder in the 1998 deaths of Beth Kusch, Rick Milewski and Aaron Milewski. Prosecutors say Wayne Kubsch was heavily in debt and killed his wife to cash in on a $575,000 life insurance policy he had taken out on her three months earlier.

His first conviction was overturned, and a second jury also convicted him and recommended the death penalty. Kubsch's appeal said prosecutors failed to turn over evidence, including a letter written by Mike Dvorak, who later became St Joseph County prosecutor.