• 'Milkshake murderer' Nancy Kissel seeks fresh appeal in Hong Kong

    American Nancy Kissel, seen leaving the High Court in Hong Kong on March 24, 2011, wants to appeal against her conviction for murdering her husband, Robert.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    HONG KONG -- An American woman convicted twice in Hong Kong of drugging her wealthy banker husband with a laced strawberry milkshake and bashing him to death wants to appeal her latest conviction.

    The South China Morning Post newspaper, which requires readers to register, reported Friday that Nancy Kissel had applied for permission to appeal her conviction last year for the murder of Robert Kissel.

    Kissel's lawyer previously said she was not going to appeal, but that she planned to ask to serve her sentence in the U.S., the AFP news agency reported.

     

    However, a court spokeswoman confirmed to AFP Friday that Kissel, originally from Adrian, Mich., had recently sought permission to appeal her conviction.

    Nancy Kissel, an American woman living in Hong Kong, was convicted of killing her investment banker husband by poisoning his milkshake. After winning an appeal, a second trial recently ended with another guilty verdict for Kissel, who insists she was a battered wife who acted in self-defense. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe speaks with Frank Shea, a key witness in the case, and criminal defense attorney Paul Callan.

    "No date has been set for the hearing," a court spokeswoman told AFP.

    'Adultery, violence, spying, greed'
    Kissel's first trial in 2003 grabbed world headlines as it detailed the disintegration of the wealthy expatriate couple's marriage in the southern Chinese financial center.

    AFP said the case had shone "a spotlight on Hong Kong's elite expatriate community, and featuring sensational allegations of a heady mix of adultery, violence, spying, greed and enormous wealth."

    In March last year, a jury found her guilty at a retrial. She had denied murder, but admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter for causing his death.

    Nancy Kissel guilty in milkshake murder case

    She had testified her husband physically and sexually abused her.

    Kissel must apply for permission to appeal because the 28-day deadline to file one following the trial in March has passed.

    Robert Kissel's older brother, Andrew, was also murdered. He was found stabbed to death in 2006 in his Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion at the age of 46, three days before he was going to plead guilty in federal court to real estate fraud. His estranged wife, Hayley Wolff Kissel, did not attend the funeral.

    Andrew and Rob Kissel shared more than blood. They each had the trappings of success; nice homes; wealth; luxury lifestyles. Who would want to kill either man, let alone both of them?

    His death remains a mystery, although there has been speculation he planned his own murder, sacrificing himself so his family could benefit from his insurance policies.

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    The Associated Press contributed to this report.