POMEROY — Paula Rizer, convicted in January of murdering her husband, has appealed her conviction to the Fourth District Court of Appeals.

Herman Carson of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office filed a notice of appeal in Rizer’s murder case Thursday. Carson and Glenn Jones, who also signed the appeal notice, represented Rizer in both of her murder trials.

In October 2009, Rizer was acquitted on an original charge of aggravated murder, but her first jury was unable to reach a verdict on a murder charge. She was re-tried and convicted in January of murder.

Rizer is now an inmate at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville, serving a sentence of 15 years to life, with additional mandatory time for a firearms specification. Rizer’s second jury determined she intentionally shot and killed her husband while he was resting in his recliner.

Rizer’s conviction will now be reviewed by the Fourth District Ohio Court of Appeals. The appeal notice filed Thursday does not cite the specific nature of the appeal, or the nature of the trial error on which the appeal is based.

Rizer shot her husband, Kenneth, Sr., at their Lovett Road home in April, 2009. He died in his reclining chair from multiple gunshot wounds.

In her two trials, Rizer told jurors her husband had become increasingly intimidating, sometimes physically violent, in the months since his retirement. However, jurors agreed with a state rebuttal witness who said Rizer had malingered, or lied to strengthen her case, in order to justify her husband’s death.

Now that the appeal has been filed, Rizer’s defense counsel and Prosecuting Attorney Colleen Williams will prepare and file briefs in the case for consideration by the appeals court.