Nearby: Supreme Court Overturns Murder Conviction of Winder Man Who Killed Wife, Hid Her Body

A Winder man who was found guilty of murdering his wife and hiding her body in a well had his conviction overturned Monday by the Georgia Supreme Court because evidence of his wife’s infidelity wasn’t allowed during the trial.

James Morris Lynn Jr., who admitted to killing his wife Tonya in 2011, was convicted by a Barrow County jury of murder in 2012 and sentenced to life in prison.

But the Supreme Court ruled Monday that Lynn should have been allowed to enter evidence during the trial to support his claims the killing was voluntary manslaughter and not murder. Lynn argued his wife’s alleged adultery provoked the violent attack.

Tonya Lynn was beaten to death with a baseball bat after the two argued in their Winder home on July 26, 2011.

The court said in its ruling:

“The trial court permitted [Lynn] to testify about this admission, but it refused to allow additional evidence of her recent infidelity, including the testimony of two men with whom she allegedly was having extramarital affairs around the time of her death. On appeal, [Lynn] contends that the trial court erred when it disallowed this additional evidence as irrelevant. We agree and reverse his conviction.”

The Gwinnett Daily Post reported Lynn would remain in jail, pending a retrial.

Read more on this story:

• Winder Man Found Guilty of Wife’s Murder (Patch)
• Grand Jury Indicts Husband Charged with Killing Mother of 4 (Patch)
• Husband Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Murdering Wife (Patch)
• UPDATE: Police Identify Body of Missing Winder Woman (Patch)
• Supreme Court reverses conviction of Winder man (Gwinnett Daily Post)