Killing that sparked boy to 'divorce' his dad going to court

Daniel Holland is appealing a judge's refusal to grant him a new trial, arguing that his lawyers failed to present evidence of his mental health issues.

The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen, with blunt head trauma listed as a contributing factor.

A judge denied his motion for a new trial, saying he viewed the request as a continuation of Holland's attempts "to abuse and manipulate the Court system, the judges involved in this case, his own private and retained attorneys, the prosecutors and even his own mother and father" in an attempt to avoid responsibility for his wife's murder.

"The evidence pointing to a mitigating defense of mental impairment was never investigated or developed by trial counsel," Nixon wrote in a legal brief filed with the Supreme Judicial Court.

Prosecutors, however, say Holland's trial lawyers made a strategic decision to focus their defense on impairment caused by Holland's chronic abuse of drugs and alcohol because there was "scant" evidence suggesting he was mentally ill.