HAMILTON - The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed Anne Marie Stout's conviction and life sentence for shooting her husband to death while he slept in June 2007.

After a three-week trial in June 2008, Stout was convicted of deliberate homicide for shooting her husband, Bill, in the head while he slept on June 2, 2007, at the couple's Darby home. Ravalli County District Judge Jeffrey Langton sentenced her to a life term later in 2008.

Stout appealed the conviction, saying Langton improperly allowed the jury access to reports, improperly admitted evidence and refused to suppress evidence seized under the authority of a search warrant.

She also argued that Langton did not have jurisdiction to modify her sentence after appeal to include reimbursement for costs of her appellate counsel. Langton ordered Stout to pay $57,127 in court costs incurred during the trial, but a subsequent order that the amount should be increased if there was an appeal didn't set a dollar figure.

Four of five Supreme Court justices ruled Langton acted properly in addressing issues of evidence during the trial.

The justices remanded the portion of her sentence dealing with court costs back to Langton to allow him to issue a new order that includes attorney fees incurred during the appeal process.

Justice James C. Nelson dissented.

Nelson disagreed with the majority opinion that Stout's "so-called harassment campaign" was admissible under district court rules.

Stout's husband was killed with his own pistol, which was found in the saddlebag of his motorcycle in the garage of the house. Investigators also found a latex glove that had gunshot residue on the outside and Stout's DNA on the inside in the same laundry hamper where the pistol's holster was discovered. A note in Stout's handwriting was discovered in her nightstand that contained apparent instructions on how to fire a pistol similar to the one used in the crime. She claimed the note was a guide for the couple's college-age son for using the clothes washer.

Prosecutors said the couple's marriage went bad after Stout learned her husband had a short-term affair with a woman from Arkansas. After that revelation, Stout began a long and complicated series of deceptions to make her family believe that they were being victimized and stalked by the other woman.

Investigators found 56 Internet searches on how to kill someone and get away with it on Stout's computer. Stout was the beneficiary of a $500,000 term life insurance policy her husband had taken out two years before his death and the co-owner of real estate worth more than $500,000.

The justices' decision was filed with the Ravalli County court on July 13.

Ravalli Republic Editor Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or at editor@ravallirepublic.com.