Sentence upheld against only woman on Georgia’s death row

The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Tuesday upheld the capital sentence against the only woman on Georgia’s death row.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all claims raised by Kelly Gissendaner, who talked her lover into killing her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, for insurance money. Gregory Bruce Owen, who testified in exchange for a life sentence, said he forced Gissendaner to a remote, wooded location before beating and stabbing him. Owen said he took Gissendaner’s watch and wedding ring to try and make the 1997 murder look like it was part of a robbery.