Nebraska Supreme Court Orders New Trial for Cheyenne Man

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a Wyoming man sentenced to life in prison for killing a Colorado man in Nebraska.

Vencil Ash III, of Cheyenne, Wyo., was convicted last year of first-degree murder in Kimball County District Court. Authorities say 42-year-old Ash shot Ryan Guitron, of Fort Collins, Colo., to death in 2003 at an abandoned farm in western Nebraska.

Ash's wife, 25-year-old Kelly Meehan-Ash, was initially charged with aiding and abetting and was set to stand trial with her husband. But days before the couple's trial, she cut a deal in which she agreed to testify against Ash.

The state's high court said Friday that Ash's requests to postpone the trial so he could prepare a defense against Meehan-Ash's testimony should have been granted.