ALLEGAN -- A convicted murderer from Allegan County has lost her appeal. Dena “Winky” Thompson had petitioned the state Court of Appeals to overturn convictions stemming from the December 2007 murder of her ex-husband Troy Tyo.

However, the three-judge panel on Tuesday rejected the 38-year-old Gobles woman’s request that was based on arguments the Allegan County Circuit Court should have allowed defense testimony on coercive interrogation techniques during her trial, and that she had made a confession to police under duress.

Prosecutors successfully contended that Thompson plotted with her husband Kristopher to kill Tyo as a result of a child custody dispute. Kristopher Thompson ambushed and stabbed the 36-year-old victim while he was taking garbage out to the dumpster at his Allegan mobile home complex.

Tyo’s body was found in his burned out pickup truck on a Van Buren County field hours later. Kristopher Thompson was convicted of murder charges, while his sister and brother-in-law also admitted guilt as accessories in the case.