Broker Accused of Fraud, Murder Gets 12 Charges Tossed on Appeal

A Texas insurance broker accused of murdering a client and staging the scene to look like a suicide to steal the man’s life insurance policy proceeds won his appeal to undo multiple convictions on Thursday.

Keith Todd Ashley’s conviction for one count of firearm possession in relation to a crime of violence— predicated on Hobbs Act robbery—had to be vacated because he wasn’t in his client’s physical presence when he stole the money, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said.

The government had conceded as much on appeal. It had also conceded that four of Ashley’s wire ...