U.S. woman guilty in Hong Kong spousal murder

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong jury found an American woman guilty of murder Friday in her retrial over the death of her wealthy husband.

The jury's decision upheld the original verdict handed down to Nancy Kissel, a native of Adrian, Michigan. She had denied murder but admitted to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of husband Robert in 2003.

The first trial grabbed worldwide attention as it detailed the breakdown of a wealthy expatriate marriage in this southern Chinese financial hub. The case spawned two books and a TV special.

Prosecutors say Kissel drugged her husband with a sedative-laced milkshake and then bludgeoned him with a metal ornament in 2003. Kissel said in the first trial that she killed him in self-defense after he attacked her with a baseball bat and tried to rape her.

The original conviction and mandatory life sentence Nancy Kissel was issued in 2005. It was overturned last year and a judge ordered a retrial because prosecutors improperly cross-examined her and the original judge allowed hearsay evidence.

The case of Robert Kissel's murder was previously covered in an episode of 48 Hours | Mystery.