A British man has been jailed in the US for shooting dead his American wife and baby daughter has filed an appeal against his convictions.

Neil Entwistle, 32, of workshop, Notts, was convicted in 2008 for murdering his wife Rachel, 27 and Lillian Rose in 2006.

His lawyer says that the evidence had been illegally seized and should have been suppressed and that jurors may have been biased by media coverage.

Prosecutors said that, Entwistle had received a “just and fair” trial.

In the appeal brief, lawyer Stephen Paul Maidman argued that two home searches by police were carried out without warrants and that the evidence seized should have been suppressed during the trial.

He also argued that the judge did not thoroughly question potential jurors to identify any bias against Entwistle.

Entwistle’s request to move the trial out of Middlesex County was denied by the judge at that time.

Mr. Maidman wrote that there was extraordinary prejudicial pre-trial publicity in this case that was both saturating and inflammatory. Also stated that the defendant is entitled to a new trial utilising a jury selection process where there can be no question that the seated jurors are fair and impartial. Middlesex district attorney Gerry Leone, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement “the crimes committed by Entwistle against his wife and daughter are to be condemned as horrific and unspeaken acts”.

Prosecutors said that police were justified in entering in Entwistle family home because they were responding to the pleas of concerned relatives and friends. They said that at the time of murders, he had become despondent after accumulating tens of thousands of dollars in debt and had complained about his sex life with his wife.

BRITON CHALLENGES WIFE AND BABY MURDER VERDICTS

Report by Sharika