Obese man wins retrial in wife's death

TORONTO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A retrial was granted to a 380-pound man Toronto appeals judges said might have accidentally suffocated his wife during a physical brawl.

Peter Mathisen was convicted of second degree murder by a jury in 2005 for the October 2001 death of his wife Jane at their home in Brantford, Ontario, west of Toronto.

Three judges of the Ontario Superior Court ruled the trial judge erred by not instructing the jury the woman's suffocation death could have been accidental, the Globe and Mail reported Thursday.

"It is not part of the trial judge's role to determine whether the defense is or is not likely to succeed," the ruling said.

The couple's marriage was faltering after Mathisen learned his wife was having an affair, and she had asked for a divorce, the original trial heard. A physical altercation broke out at the front door, and Mathisen said he was knocked off balance and fell on his wife.

An autopsy found the woman suffered five broken ribs, and pressure bleeding on her cheek, chin, eyes and epiglottis, the report said.

Mathisen has been in prison since his conviction, and no date for the retrial was immediately set.