The decade-long fight of Nancy Kissel against the charges that she had killed her husband has ended in a Hong Kong ruling today, Bloomberg reported. The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal said that the Michigan-born expatriate's petition to review her case had been rejected and also ruled that her conviction in the murder of Merrill Lynch & Co. banker Robert Kissel could no longer be appealed.
The now 50-year old, who has already served ten years into a life sentence she had received for killing her husband in November 2003, reportedly did not show a sign of reaction when Judge Roberto Ribeiro had announced the decision today. Colin Cohen, Kissel's attorney, had already expressed resignation over his client's case. Kissel's mother had sobbed to Bloomberg when she was reached via phone regarding the decision of the Hong Kong Appeal court today.
According to police, Robert's body was found hidden in a family storeroom wrapped in a sleeping bag and then a carpet four days after he was killed. The Kissels were then living at the luxury Parkview apartment following their move from New York in 10097 when Merrill had hired Kissel's husband from Goldman Sachs Group Inc in 2000 to head its Asian-based distressed-assets business. Kissel remained in her claims that she was depressed at the time that she killed her husband and that she was also suffering physical abuse from him as well prior to his death. Kissel was touted as the "milkshake killer" as she drugged Robert with a milkshake laced with sedatives and then bludgeoned him with a lead ornament.
Bloomberg said murder in the Chinese city carries a mandatory life sentence. Afterwards, a prisoner's case could be reviewed by the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board. However, the news agency said that murder convicts are rarely granted parole in Hong Kong if they petition while serving less than 20-25 years in prison.
