Combined Sources
(Easthampton, MA) — The state’s highest court has upheld the murder conviction of a Easthampton man who killed his girlfriend eight years ago. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that Ryan Welch cannot have a new trial in an attempt to overturn the 2014 guilty verdict which led to a life sentence. Welch murdered Jessica Ann Pripstein in the couple’s Easthampton apartment. He argued that the judge in his trial should not have admitted statements into evidence that Welch allegedly made while in the hospital. The SJC disagreed, and dismissed the appeal.