<p>Michael Blagg, the Grand Junction businessman sentenced to life without parole for killing his wife and dumping her body in a trash bin, has appealed his murder conviction.</p><p>Kathleen Lord, the public defender for Blagg, filed the appeal late Tuesday with the Colorado Court of Appeals. She said she will challenge sufficiency of the evidence and sentencing.</p><p>She also said other points could be brought up, including "any other issues (Blagg) chooses to raise as plain error." Lord did not immediately return a call for comment.</p><p>Blagg, 41 was accused of shooting his wife as she slept. Her body was found in a Mesa County landfill three years ago. Evidence in the case included drops of Jennifer Blagg's blood in the family minivan. Her car keys were found in the family's house.</p><p>"That was the smoking gun," juror Todd Hoyt said after Blagg was convicted April 16 of murder, abusing a corpse and two counts of theft.</p><p>Blagg was arrested at his mother's home in Warner Robins, Ga., shortly after his wife's remains were found.</p><p>The life sentence was automatic because prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty. Appeals are automatic in first-degree murder cases.</p><p>Blagg had reported his wife and their daughter, Abby, 6, missing in November 2001 and later appeared on television to plead for help in finding them. Jennifer Blagg, 34, was found in the Mesa County landfill seven months after she vanished, a bullet in her skull. Abby is missing and presumed dead.</p><p>Blagg, a decorated Gulf War veteran, said he came home from work at his $110,000-a-year job as operations director at gauge maker Ametek Dixson to find a pool of blood near the bed and the back door open.</p><p>Three months after the disappearance, Blagg was found naked in his bathtub with his wrists slit. An investigator attempted to elicit a dying confession, but Blagg said he was innocent.</p><p>Defense attorneys argued during the trial that an intruder killed Jennifer Blagg. They pointed to unidentified fingerprints, blood and other evidence found in the home.</p><p>Prosecutors said the couple had a fight four days before Jennifer Blagg disappeared, and said Blagg used an escort service, viewed Internet pornography and abused his wife. She was seeking a divorce, prosecutors said.</p><p>District court officials have 90 days from the date of the appeal to deliver records and transcripts from the case, which included 113 witnesses and 350 pieces of evidence. That time could be extended if necessary.</p><p>Once the records are received, Blagg's attorneys would have 40 days to file legal arguments and the attorney general's office would have 40 days to respond.</p><p>Meanwhile, public defender David Eisner, who represented Blagg at trial, said he does not plan to contest a motion seeking $59,901 in restitution from Blagg for spending by prosecutors and law enforcement in the case.</p><p>The total includes the cost of copies, photo processing, trial transcripts, expert witnesses' travel and fees, extraditing Blagg from Georgia and about $6,700 paid to Jennifer Blagg's family in victim compensation.</p>
