By Billy Davis

The Miss. Court of Appeals has upheld the 2009 murder conviction of Dennis Ray Cosby.

Cosby is serving a life sentence after jurors found him guilty in the 2007 murder of wife Wendy Cosby.

Authorities alleged in trial that Cosby murdered his wife during the week of Thanksgiving and dumped her body in the Tallahatchie River.

The defendant, in a bizarre twist, was set to plead guilty to murder when he testified on the witness stand that his wife had jumped from the bridge, apparently to commit suicide.

Batesville defense attorney David Walker filed the appeal on behalf of his client.

The Court of Appeals, in its ruling, said the Circuit Court was right to deny Cosby’s motion for a new trial or a judgment withstanding the verdict, a reversal of the jury’s conviction known as JNOV.

Walker also argued that the court’s jurisdiction was improper, since authorities had alleged Cosby dumped his wife’s body off a bridge in Tallahatchie County.

Justices, however, noted that Cosby had admitted that he struck his wife at their home in Panola County, which is in the First Judicial District.

The Appeals Court summarized that “we find the overwhelming weight of the evidence supported the verdict,” and the request for a new trial is “without merit.”

Wendy Cosby remained a Jane Doe for five months until a sister, who was searching for her, identified a wedding band she had been wearing.