Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects Koula’s second murder appeal

A West Salem man sent to prison for the murders of his parents will not get to plead his case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 

The high court says it will not take up the Eric Koula case. 

This decision comes six months after a state appeals court turned down Koula’s appeal for the second time. 

Dennis and Merna Koula were shot to death at their Barre Mills home in May of 2010. 

Prosecutors argued that Eric killed his parents on a Friday afternoon, and told no one about the shootings over that weekend until he reported discovering the bodies the following Monday when checking at the house. 

He argued that he was at Bridgeview Plaza in La Crosse at the time of the shootings, buying an anniversary present for his wife, although security cameras showed no evidence of his vehicle being at the shopping center. 

Koula was accused of killing his parents for their money, so he could pay off massive debts from trading stocks on-line. 

The defense team in the case suggested that a hitman allegedly hired to murder a neighbor might have gone to the wrong address. 

A La Crosse County jury convicted Koula in the summer of 2012, and his case has been profiled on the CBS News program “48 Hours.”