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Appeals court upholds another murder conviction for Jeffrey Willis

Willis in December lost his appeal in the Jessica Heeringa murder; justices last week also upheld his conviction in the shooting death of Rebekah Bletsch.

MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Michigan appeals court has affirmed the conviction of Jeffrey Willis in the murder of 36-year-old Rebekah Bletsch, who was gunned down while jogging near her Muskegon County home in June of 2014.

Willis appealed his conviction on several issues, including violation of attorney-client privilege involving the confiscation of notes taken from his jail jumpsuit.

In a 21-page decision released last week, the three-judge panel upheld his conviction for felony murder and felony use of a firearm. Willis was sentenced in December of 2017 to mandatory life in prison.

RELATED: Jeffrey Willis appeals convictions in 2 Muskegon County homicides

Six months later, he received another life sentence for the murder of Jessica Heeringa. Willis also appealed; the appeals court two weeks ago affirmed that conviction.

Heeringa, 25, disappeared in 2013 while working at a gas station in Norton Shores in Muskegon County. Her body hasn't been found.

Willis, 49, is serving both life sentences at a state prison in Ionia.

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