Michelle Byrom, of Mississippi, was given a new trial by the Mississippi Supreme Court Monday after her 2000 conviction for capital murder was reversed. The circuit court was ordered to find a new judge for the case as the previous judge, Thomas J. Gardner will not preside over the re-trial.
Byrom was originally convicted for the shooting and death of her husband, Edward Byrom Sr 14 years ago. Had the conviction held, she would have been the first woman in 70 years to be executed in the state reported Reuters. The execution had been asked by Attorney General Jim Hood to be scheduled for last Thursday night however the court denied this motion only a few hours before it was to occur.
The change in conviction has come as a result of new evidence that Byrom’s son had actually carried out the murder. Previously it had been concluded that Byrom had hired a man to kill her husband in order to collect his life insurance policy and estate reported The Guardian.
Byrom has previously claimed she suffered from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse from her husband. On the day of his death, she was hospitalized with pneumonia.