(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has denied the appeal of a man found guilty of brutally murdering a hunter in Appanoose County. Ethan Davis of Promise City was found guilty of first-degree murder in a random attack on hunter Curtis Ross. Ross’s body was found in a public hunting area the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2017, he had been shot and stabbed several times. Ross appealed his conviction saying a jury instruction on reasonable doubt was not adequate, and an instruction given to the jury after they appeared deadlocked pushed them to a verdict.

The Iowa Supreme Court ruling says the instruction given to the jury was adequate. And it says the jury continued deliberating for four-and-half hours after the second instruction — which the Court says was ample time for them to discuss the evidence and thoroughly evaluate each other’s opinions.