PIERRE, S.D. (DRG News) – The South Dakota Supreme Court is hearing an appeal today from a Pierre man convicted of killing his wife 13 years ago.

Tami Reay (ray-uh) was reported missing by her lover, a co-worker at a retail outlet, when she failed to show up for work in early February 2006. Brad Reay was immediately suspected because his wife’s lover told police Tami told Brad she wanted a divorce.

When Pierre Police officers questioned Brad, he gave them permission to search the family home. Tami’s SUV was parked in the garage and blood was dripping from a door.

A South Dakota National Guard helicopter spotted Tami’s body by Lake Oahe’s emergency spillway north of Pierre after an extensive search. She’d been stabbed multiple times and her throat had been cut.

Brad’s defense centered around the claim that 12-year-old Haylee Reay– he and Tami’s daughter– had killed her mother. The jury didn’t buy the argument and unanimously convicted Brad of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in the South Dakota State Penitentiary without the possibility of parole.

The issue before the state Supreme Court is whether Brad’s attorney, Tim Rensch, provided adequate counsel because he didn’t pursue experts to look into bite marks on Tami’s body, DNA on a towel or tool marks on a tarp covering Tami’s body.