Court won't hear appeal in lover-in-closet case

Friday, September 26, 2014, Vol. 38, No. 39

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a woman who was convicted, along with her lover, in the slaying of her husband.

A Davidson County jury convicted Martha Freeman and Rafael Rocha-Perez in 2006.

They were sentenced to life in the death of businessman Jeffrey Freeman, who was strangled and beaten in April 2005 at the Freemans' Nashville home. Prosecutors said Rocha-Perez had been living in a bedroom closet in the couple's home, apparently without the husband's knowledge.

Freeman told investigators her husband was slain after he heard Rocha-Perez snoring and went to investigate.

The defense argued at trial that although Freeman waited a day to call police, the fact that she didn't cover up the crime scene showed she wasn't involved.