Des Moines man wins new murder trial

The state’s high court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of shooting his wife to death. Gerald Long of Des Moines was convicted of first degree murder five years ago for killing his wife, Jill, but the Supreme Court says he should get a new trial. The reason: a social worker who had talked to Jill Long testified about something the dead woman had told her. The woman told the jury Jill Long said her husband’s brother had been coaching him on what to say to psychiatrists so he could claim to be insane. The justices said that testimony was inadmissible because it attacked the heart of his only defense.