Man loses bid to have sentence thrown out

OTTAWA -- A central Illinois man convicted of clubbing a woman to death with a baseball bat in 2002 has lost a bid to have his 40-year sentence thrown out.

The Third District Appellate Court in Ottawa has dismissed 53-year-old Dennis Wilson's claim that his lawyer didn't do a good enough job at trial.

The appeals court agreed with a lower court ruling that Wilson's claims were frivolous.

Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder and concealing a homicide in the death of Connie Farmer of Ottawa.

Prosecutors said Farmer was hit at least 13 times with a baseball bat Feb. 10, 2002. Her body was found eight days later.

Wilson admitted to police that he had killed Farmer, but said it wasn't a premeditated murder.

He's being housed at the Menard Correctional Center.