Conviction stands after appeal in party death

MONROE, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan appeals court has affirmed a first-degree murder conviction in the case of a woman who disappeared from a Halloween party, rejecting arguments that DNA was illegally used.

Daniel Clay was convicted of killing a woman in Monroe County in 2014 and stashing her body in woods. Chelsea Bruck’s body was found after six months.

Clay made several arguments on appeal. He said his rights were violated when investigators matched his DNA on Bruck’s clothing to a sample obtained by police in another case in 2016.

He says the sample should have been destroyed when the previous charge was dismissed.

But the appeals court says a DNA sample would have been available again when Clay was charged in yet another case.

At trial, Clay claimed Bruck’s death occurred during aggressive sex and wasn’t intentional.