The attorney for the convicted killer of Judy Spencer has filed an appeal, according to court documents.
Donald “Doc” Nash was convicted late last year on capital murder charges in the 1982 death of Spencer. His attorney, Frank K. Carlson of Union, filed the paperwork on Dec. 23 with the Missouri Supreme Court. Carlson has 10 days to explain why his client deserves a new trial.
On Dec. 18, retired Circuit Court Judge Douglas Long sentenced Nash to 50 years without parole. The Missouri attorney general’s office waived the death penalty in the case.
Spencer, 21, was killed on March 1982, and new DNA technology uncovered in 2008 tied Nash to the victim, testimony at the trial showed. Lab tests showed that Nash’s DNA matched the profile found from the left hand fingernail clippings from Spencer. At the trial, Carlson was denied an effort to show another man was the actual killer.