Eau Claire Leader-Telegram
Updated: 11/30/2009 07:25:21 AM CST
A man serving a 40-year prison sentence for the stabbing death of his girlfriend in 2006 is requesting his conviction be overturned because certain statements should not have been allowed at his trial.
Peter G. Whyte, 53, was convicted in a 2007 jury trial of second-degree intentional homicide in the Aug. 20, 2006, stabbing death of Suzanne Weiland, 39, at the rural Somerset residence they shared. Judge Eric Lundell sentenced Whyte to prison, followed by 20 years of extended supervision.
Whyte, by appellant attorney Michael Fairchild of Menomonie, recently filed an appeal requesting the verdict be vacated and a new trial be ordered. The state will respond to the appeal, which likely then would be considered by the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Wausau.
Whyte claims testimony about statements Weiland reportedly made to relatives and a friend about Whyte and her concern for her safety should not have been allowed.
Several witnesses testified at the trial about statements Weiland made about Whyte being violent toward her and her plans to leave him.
Weiland had 19 stab wounds, eight of which were significant enough to have caused her death, when police went to the residence after receiving a call from Whyte, who had several stab wounds as well. Whyte claimed self-defense, saying he retaliated after being stabbed first by Weiland after a night of drinking. She had a blood alcohol level of 0.31, according to court records.
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