KINGMAN COUNTY— A Kansas man convicted of killing his wife 10 years ago will have a hearing before the Kansas Court of Appeals January 12.
Brett Seacat, now 45, was found guilty of shooting Vashti Seacat in the couple's bedroom then setting their home in Kingman ablaze in April of 2011.
He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years. Seacat has filed a civil motion claiming ineffective counsel, saying that there was evidence the defense failed to present that would clear him of the crime. The motion was filed in May of 2020.
The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the former Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center instructor in 2016.
Seacat maintained that his wife killed herself and that evidence proving so was not presented in his trial. In his original appeal, Seacat challenged the trial court’s exclusion of evidence relating to his wife's depression, which he contends would have bolstered his theory that she took her own life.
The case is part of the summary docket before the court of appeals, which means there will be no oral arguments.