A year ago today, once the jury of seven had returned their unanimously guilty verdict against Nancy Ann Kissel, Justice Michael Lunn spared no time in sending her away for life for the murder of her husband, Robert.
The ruling was supposed to bring a close to the three-month saga in the Court of First Instance, which had been packed daily for sordid and salacious allegations of a vicious murder in the family's luxury flat on November 2, 2003.
But it was not to be. For the Kissel family seems to be as cursed as any in a Shakespearean tragedy.
Robert Kissel's older brother, Andrew, was found stabbed to death at his home in Connecticut in April, with his hands and feet bound. A wealthy property developer, Andrew Kissel, 46, had been due to plead guilty for swindling a number of banks and companies out of tens of millions of dollars. No one has been charged in connection with his death.
From her prison cell, Nancy Kissel, whom friends have said still feels her trial was a 'travesty of justice', is looking towards her appeal against the sentence and believes the violent death of Andrew Kissel points to the 'real character' of her husband. US Federal court documents that were part of his messy divorce allege cocaine abuse, alcoholism, bipolar disorder and impulse-control disorder.
Nancy Kissel's lawyers did not return calls for comment this week. But her appeal is likely to be overshadowed by legal action filed on behalf of her three children and their father suing her for damages. Writs were filed yesterday - one year from their mother's conviction. Elaine, June and Reis Kissel have not visited their mother since she was jailed for life.