New

I.

INTRODUCTION

Appellant William Peter New appeals from his convictions on two counts of murder. A jury convicted New of murder in the first degree for the killing of his first wife in 1973, and murder in the first degree for the killing of his third wife in 2004. Both women were shot in the head in the homes they shared with New.

In 1973, New admitted that he shot his first wife in the living room of their home in San Bernardino, but claimed that the gun had discharged when he dropped it while cleaning it. San Bernardino police concluded that the death was accidental. In 2004, New’s third wife was murdered in the couple’s home in San Diego. New claimed that he had gone out in the middle of the night to purchase medicine for his wife, and that when he returned, he found the front door open and his wife dead in their bed. New became a suspect in the shooting death of his third wife, which in turn led police to reopen the investigation of the death of New’s first wife.

In 2005, prosecutors charged New with murdering both women. New moved to have the 1973 murder count dismissed on the ground that he had been unfairly prejudiced by the prosecution’s lengthy delay in…