KS Supreme Court to hear appeal of Hays man convicted of murdering wife

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

On Dec. 16, the Kansas Supreme Court will hear an appeal from a Hays man convicted of murdering his wife.

Colby Trickle was convicted in 2023 of murdering his wife, Kristen Trickle, and interfering with law enforcement. The district court sentenced Trickle to a hard 50-year sentence.

On the morning of Oct. 31, 2019, 26-year-old Kristen Trickle was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head at her home. The 911 caller reported the incident as a suicide.

But according to then Assistant Ellis County Attorney Aaron Cunningham, investigators worked through the evidence and determined that Kristen was murdered, and they identified her husband, Colby, as the main suspect.

Investigators determined that 10 days before Kristen was found dead, Colby Trickle searched the internet for information on how to collect on her life insurance policy.

Colby Trickle was also engaged in an online affair at the time, according to investigators.

Investigators also learned that Colby Trickle collected on Kristen’s life insurance policies, and he spent all of the money in just a few months after her death.

During his allocution, Colby Trickle apologized for being a bad husband and son but continued to claim that he did not shoot his wife and that he was being “wrongfully persecuted.”

Chief Judge of the 23rd Judicial District Court, Glenn Braun presided over the trial. Braun has since retired.

Issues on review by the Supreme Court are whether: 1) the district court erred in allowing into evidence unreliable expert opinion that invaded the province of the jury;

2) the prosecutor erred in asking questions and eliciting answers invading the province of the jury, diluting its burden of proof, and denying Trickle his state and federal right to due process;

3) the district court erred in excluding Trickle’s lay suicide witness, denying him his state and federal rights to present a defense;

4) the district court erred in admitting irrelevant and highly prejudicial evidence of a purchase made several months after the victim’s death;

5) the district court failed to conform to the best evidence rule;

6) bias on the part of the district court denied Trickle his due process rights to a fair trial and a neutral judge;

7) the prosecution reversibly erred in closing arguments; and

8) cumulative error deprived Trickle of a fair trial.

The Trickle case was featured on "48 Hours" in 2024.