Former Otago University tutor Clayton Weatherston has lodged an appeal against his conviction for the murder of 22-year-old Sophie Elliott.
In July, a jury found Weatherston guilty of murdering his former girlfriend after he stabbed or mutilated her 216 times in Dunedin in January last year.
Weatherston was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 18 years.
His appeal will not be pursued by his trial lawyers Judith Ablett Kerr, QC, and Greg King. They have referred Weatherston to Wellington-based QC Robert Lithgow, without commenting on why they have done so.
Mr Lithgow says Weatherston came to him for a second opinion on whether he should appeal against his conviction.
Mr Lithgow says he has not established the grounds for the appeal. However, it could be based on the fact a "lynch mob mentality" developed against Weatherston, which Mr Lithgow says is not how trials are supposed to run.
Miss Elliott's father, Gilbert Elliott, says everything was done to ensure that Weatherston got a fair trial and believes he is wrong to lodge an appeal.
"When a jury of your peers convicts you for murder after listening to witnesses for four-and-a-half weeks, they're not going to do it lightly. It had to be unanimous and it was unanimous.
"I think it would be a frivolous appeal and I'd be very surprised if the Appeal Court accepted it."
