Court upholds conviction in old Wis. slaying

By: Associated Press//October 5, 2011//

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state appeals court says a jury properly convicted an Ashwaubenon man of killing a go-go dancer 35 years ago.

A jury in 2009 convicted Thomas Niesen of first-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Kathleen Leichtman in Fond du Lac in 1976.

Prosecutors accused Niesen of luring Leichtman out of the bar where she danced and slashing her throat. The case went unsolved until early 2009, when DNA tests showed Niesen had sex with Leichtman up to 26 hours before she died.

Niesen, now 56, argued prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to convict him.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled the evidence was sufficient to convince a rational jury that Niesen was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Niesen’s attorney didn’t immediately return a message.

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