The Iowa Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld the murder conviction of Casey Frederiksen in the death of Evelyn Miller. Frederiksen was found guilty of first-degree murder and sexual abuse the death of the five-year-old Miller in Floyd, in July of 2005. She was the daughter of his live-in girlfriend. Frederiksen appealed saying there was not enough evidence to prove he was the killer, he said the district court improperly excluded out-of-court statements made by another person.

And he argued the court erred in admitting evidence of his possession of child pornography. The Court of Appeals ruling found the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable jury to determine that Frederiksen sexually assaulted and murdered Miller. The court also found the decision to admit testimony that Frederiksen possessed child pornography was permissible given the “strikingly similar” nature of the pornography evidence and his crime of child sexual abuse. It also found the exclusion of the out-of-court statements was a harmless error.

(Radio Iowa)