BATON ROUGE — The state Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a Baton Rouge woman convicted of fatally poisoning her partner with barium in 2015.
The court on Tuesday denied Meshell Hale’s request to overturn her conviction, leaving in place a September ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeal. That ruling affirmed the conviction and sent the case back to the 19th Judicial District Court to correct technical errors that do not affect the outcome.
Hale, 58, was convicted of second-degree murder in 2022 in the death of her partner, Damian Skipper. She is serving a life sentence.
MORE: Hale given life sentence in partner’s poisoning death
Skipper was buried without an autopsy, and his death was initially attributed to heart disease.
The poisoning was not discovered until after the charred body of Hale’s estranged husband, Arthur Noflin, was found in a burned-out truck in New Orleans in 2016.
Before his death, Noflin showed symptoms similar to those Skipper had experienced, symptoms consistent with barium poisoning.
Those similarities prompted investigators to take a second look at Skipper’s death.
His body was exhumed in 2017. An autopsy found barium in his stomach and body tissues, and the pathologist determined he died from barium poisoning.
The condition of Noflin’s remains prevented investigators from determining his cause of death.
Hale was listed as the wife of both Skipper and Noflin in their obituaries.
She was arrested in Skipper’s death in 2018. Hale has never been charged in Noflin’s death. A judge did allow prosecutors to use evidence related to his illness and death during her trial to show a pattern of behavior.
In her appeal, Hale’s attorney argued that evidence should not have been allowed. They claimed the circumstances of Noflin’s death were never clearly established.
The First Circuit rejected that argument.
The appeal also argued that the evidence presented at trial was not strong enough to support the conviction, suggesting Skipper could have been exposed to barium accidentally or through environmental sources. It also claimed records showing Hale purchased barium three times were not conclusive, arguing others had access to her computer and phone.
The First Circuit rejected those arguments as well.
Download the Unfiltered with Kiran app from the Apple App Store and Google Play to stay updated on the latest news across the Capital area.
Support UWK and its mission to deliver The News You Deserve. Unfiltered. Become a monthly patron on Patreon today!
