U.S. appeals court upholds life sentence for slayings of three

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) – A federal appeals court has upheld the life prison sentences of an Oklahoma man convicted in the fatal shootings of three people in 2004.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal handed down the decision Thursday to 55-year-old David Magnan, who was convicted in federal court in the deaths of James Howard, Karen Wolf and Lucilla McGirt.

Prosecutors say Magnan shot the victims as they lay in bed in a house near Seminole. McGirt identified Magnan as the gunman before she died.

Magnan pleaded guilty to state murder charges and was sentenced to death, but appeals court judges ruled the state couldn’t convict him because the crimes occurred in Indian Country, where the federal government has jurisdiction.

Magnan’s attorney didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.