A Grand Junction man convicted of murdering his wife in 2019 will spend the rest of his life in prison, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
After 39 years of marriage, 66-year-old Mark Anthony Foster shot his wife, Roxine, with a .22-caliber bullet from a Colt M4 rifle while he followed her in an SUV and she rode a tractor on a farm in the 2200 block of I Road.
In his appeal, Foster attempted to argue that District Judge Valerie Robison violated his right to a fair trial when she allowed prosecutors to present, among other things, evidence of his financial and marital problems, a character statement alleging dishonesty and photographs of him posing with firearms.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court disagreed with two of his arguments but agreed with two others, holding that evidence should not have been admitted and that the court erred by allowing prosecutors to engage in “misconduct.”
Nevertheless, the judges stated that these two errors were harmless, whether considered individually or cumulatively.
Foster was also found guilty of two counts of tampering with public officials. He had told investigators that others were likely responsible for his wife's shooting. None of this turned out to be true.
“By discrediting Foster's claims – whether to police officers or friends and acquaintances – that various individuals had motives for killing Roxine, the prosecution sought to remove any reasonable doubt the jury might have had as to whether Foster was the shooter,” Judge Lino Lipinsky wrote in his ruling, which was joined by Judges Rebecca Freyre and Timothy Schutz.
“Similarly, evidence that Foster advanced false theories and false suspicions – based on deliberately exaggerated 'truths' about people he knew were unlikely to be 'after him' or who did not even exist – demonstrated his guilt and made it more likely that he shot Roxine,” Lipinsky added. “Because the evidence of dishonesty proved material facts – whether Foster shot Roxine and whether he attempted to influence the investigation by deception – the evidence was 'relevant and presumptively admissible.'”
During the investigation, Foster told police officers that there were several people who held a grudge against him and suggested that one of them might have shot his wife. He also said that a stray bullet might have been the cause, Lipinsky wrote.
In addition to the rifle, officers also found various types of ammunition on the Fosters' property, including .22 caliber Remington Yellowjacket cartridges.
Foster is currently being held at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway. He is not eligible for parole.
