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American man sentenced to hang in Malaysia for strangling ex-wife

By Sommer Brokaw

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The Malaysian High Court on Tuesday sentenced an American man to hang for the death of his ex-wife in a hotel room two years ago.

Gerald Wayne Mickelson, 63, was sentenced for his conviction in Guilda Michelson's Nov. 26, 2016, death.

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Mickelson's defense argued he killed the woman in self-defense during an argument over a potential move to the Philippines.

"The accused failed to provide evidence that the injuries suffered by the deceased [resulted from] an act of self-defense," Judge Datuk Azman Abdullah said in his judgment. "The [pathology report showed] that the fatal injury... was [incurred through] manual strangulation of the neck."

An expert witness testified at trial Guilda Mickelson was strangled.

Mickelson was charged under Section 302 of Malaysia's penal code, which allows death by hanging.

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