In February, a Cerro Gordo County jury found Mark Russell, 31, guilty of murdering 45-year-old Anglea McLeod at a residence in Fort Dodge on Jan. 20, 2020. Russell was accused of beating McLeod to death with a golf club.

At trial — which was moved to Mason City for a change of venue — Russell claimed that the assault that killed McLeod was justified because he was acting in self-defense. On Tuesday, attorneys for Russell filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the jury’s verdict is contrary to the evidence in the case.

Evidence showed that on the morning of McLeod’s death, McLeod and Russell had been arguing, and that “Angela’s daughter testified that this argument came to a head when Angela McLeod cocked a golf club back behind her head in an attempt to swing it at the defendant,” according to the motion. “The evidence clearly supports the defendant’s argument for self-defense and the jury’s verdict is contrary to that evidence.”

Wendy Samuelson, one of Russell’s attorneys, wrote that the defense had argued to the jury that Russell should be convicted of voluntary manslaughter, which the evidence “clearly supports.”

“The testimony of Melissa McKinley and the statement of the defendant show that the defendant’s actions were done solely by reason of sudden, violent and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation,” Samuelson wrote.

Shortly after the motion was filed, Assistant Webster County Attorney Brad McIntyre filed a resistance, arguing that “the state presented overwhelming evidence to support the verdict” of first-degree murder.

Russell’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday at the Webster County Courthouse. That hearing will likely be continued and a hearing on the defense’s motion will be scheduled.