Kansas man with backward murder tattoo loses appeal
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April 28, 2017
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of a Kansas man whose case drew attention because of a tattoo spelling murder backward on his neck.
The court on Friday rejected an appeal from Jeffery Wade Chapman of his first-degree murder conviction in the 2011 death of Damon Galyardt in Barton County.
Chapman claimed that he killed Galyardt in self-defense.
In his appeal, Chapman argued he did not get a fair trial because of pretrial publicity, caused in part because of the "REDRUM" tattoo on his neck. He asked to have the tattoo removed but was allowed instead to wear a turtleneck to cover it during trial.
The court rejected the appeal, saying the district court made a special effort to avoid jurors affected by the publicity.
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