Jurors deliberated for only 40 minutes Thursday before convicting 42-year-old Michael Lister Sr. of first-degree murder in the October 2008 death of 35-year-old Tracie Raisner. Northampton County President Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden then imposed the mandatory life term.
The victim's brother said the verdict will allow her son "to go back to being a typically 13-year-old boy again and live with his mother's memory."
Defense attorneys had sought a voluntary manslaughter or third-degree murder conviction. They suggested that Lister thought the woman might have a gun, and a forensic psychologist said he had been overwhelmed by emotions and stress.
But Assistant District Attorney Kelly Lewis called Lister a jealous man who couldn't accept that the victim had moved on.
Information from: The Morning Call, http://www.mcall.com
