The jury did not find those arguments persuasive.
The evidence that seems to have been most difficult for the defense to counter was the combination of the truck and the book bags. His possession of the truck three years after the murder could be explained, in isolation. The presence of bags from institutions associated with his history at the burial site could be explained, in isolation. Together, with everything else, they were harder to explain away.
At sentencing in August 2013, Gerhartsreiter represented himself — a decision that allowed him to speak directly to the court without filtering his statements through counsel. He maintained his innocence. His single specific claim was the accusation against Linda Sohus: “I firmly believe that the victim’s wife killed the victim.”
He offered no evidence for this claim. No investigation has produced evidence supporting it.
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## After Conviction: The Appeals Process and Prison
Following the April 2013 verdict, Gerhartsreiter appealed the conviction. The appeal resulted in a reduction of his sentence in 2015 — from twenty-seven years to life to twenty-six years to life — a reduction of one year that reflected a successful legal argument about the sentencing calculation.
The conviction itself was not overturned. The murder finding stood.
He had been serving his Massachusetts sentence through the California proceedings. After that sentence was completed, he was held in California to begin the murder sentence. He was transferred to San Quentin State Prison in December 2016, following earlier custody at North Kern and Ironwood State Prisons.
San Quentin, located in Marin County across the bay from San Francisco, is California’s oldest operating prison and among its most well-known. It houses death row inmates as well as those serving life sentences, including life-with-parole sentences.