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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Lake death husband loses appeal | Lake death husband loses appeal |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A man convicted of killing his wife at their French home and dumping her body in a lake has lost his appeal. | A man convicted of killing his wife at their French home and dumping her body in a lake has lost his appeal. |
| Robert Lund, 55, of Darwen, Lancashire, was originally jailed in October 2007 for 12 years for killing his wife Evelyn after a trial in Albi, France. | Robert Lund, 55, of Darwen, Lancashire, was originally jailed in October 2007 for 12 years for killing his wife Evelyn after a trial in Albi, France. |
| Mrs Lund went missing from the farmhouse they shared in the remote village of Rayssac in December 1999. Her decomposed body was found in 2001. | Mrs Lund went missing from the farmhouse they shared in the remote village of Rayssac in December 1999. Her decomposed body was found in 2001. |
| Lund denied responsibility, claiming her death was a "tragic accident". | Lund denied responsibility, claiming her death was a "tragic accident". |
| Five days to appeal | |
| The jury of seven men and five women, along with three judges, took four hours to reject Lund's claim that his wife had driven into the lake by accident following a storm. | |
| The jury retired to consider its verdict on Friday afternoon but was brought back in after two hours when the presiding judge realised the defendant had not been given his final opportunity to address the court. | |
| Because of the oversight, Lund's defence team have been given five days to appeal to the French Cour de Cassation, which is the highest court in the French judiciary. | |
| Lund has always maintained his innocence, saying that his wife drove into the lake after spending the evening with friends. | |
| Key evidence, he claimed, had been removed from the lake where his wife's body was found. | Key evidence, he claimed, had been removed from the lake where his wife's body was found. |
| A post-mortem examination on Mrs Lund's body failed to establish the cause of death but the prosecution alleged that her husband killed her and dumped her in the lake. | A post-mortem examination on Mrs Lund's body failed to establish the cause of death but the prosecution alleged that her husband killed her and dumped her in the lake. |
| Lund's retrial heard how the couple's relationship had become strained following their move to France in 1997, with Mrs Lund struggling to adjust to her new life and drinking heavily. | Lund's retrial heard how the couple's relationship had become strained following their move to France in 1997, with Mrs Lund struggling to adjust to her new life and drinking heavily. |