Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick says Mark Wangler had a fair trial.
"It's just a family that's frustrated with the verdict. Sometimes we get that with family members who can't believe that a loved one has committed a crime," said Waldick.
However, Wangler's wife, Esther Wangler, continues to fight for his freedom. Wangler's lawyers want to file an appeal, but they're waiting for transcripts of the trial. Esther believes the process is taking too long. However, Waldick says murder trials routinely take multiple months to complete.
"They have to listen to the entire trial again in real time and type it. Then once it's typed they go back, and they make sure everything was transcribed properly. Besides that, there are other trials in the pipeline. They have to be taken in the order in which the trial occurred," said Waldick.
Waldick also believes there is no conflict of interest with court reporter Patty Breitigan typing the transcripts even though she is married to lead detective Clyde Breitigan.
"She's the one that's qualified to do the job," said Waldick.
As for rulings the Wangler family believes were not fair, Waldick says there is a time and place to raise those concerns.
"That's what an appeal is for, and I anticipate those issues being raised during the appeal if they feel there's some problem with one of the rulings," said Waldick. "It's not a scorecard. It's not a baseball or a football game. We don't keep score each time an objection is sustained. Objections are made on a legal basis."
There's also conflict over lung tissue samples collected during Kathy Wangler's autopsy. Wangler's defense and family want the samples. Waldick says the results would only show she died from carbon monoxide-- not whether she died by murder or accident.
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