On Tuesday, a New Hampshire jury convicted William Argie of murdering his wife, Maureen Argie, on April 4, 2019.
Argie was represented by public defenders and expressed displeasure over their handling of the evidence. At one point, he requested a mistrial, but the judge declined to entertain his request.
Argie’s defense lawyers argued that his wife killed herself while their two young children were asleep. But Argie’s actions following the discovery of her body, his unsympathetic demeanor on the stand, as well as other testimony and case evidence did a poor job of supporting this story.
After a brief deliberation period, the jury returned a guilty verdict—Argie was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a recent interview on Law & Crime Network, Denver defense lawyer Jeffrey Wolf discussed the quick verdict and what incentives Argie might have had to take a deal amidst a mountain of problematic evidence.
“A lot of times, no matter what the plea offer is, it’s not worth not rolling the dice at trial,” explained Wolf. “You never know what could happen at trial. Sometimes, when they’re making an offer on a life without parole case where you’re going to spend the next 30 or 40 years in prison, why wouldn’t you try [a trial] at his age? Because that 30 or 40 years really is the rest of your life potentially.”
Watch the entire video for more about the Argie verdict and for additional commentary from defense lawyer Jeff Wolf.
