A Scot who shot dead his mother and stepfather in the US has failed in a bid to be cleared of one of the murders.
Derek Connell killed his mother Kim Higginbotham and her American husband Christopher in a violent rampage.
The couple, both 48, were found dead at their home in Bakersfield, California, in April 2016 by police officers.
Connell, 35, originally from Shawlands, Glasgow, had claimed he killed Mr Higginbotham after discovering his stepfather had shot dead his mother.
The former soldier said he had been sexually abused by Mr Higginbotham as a child and that his mother was killed when she confronted her husband about the allegations.
However, he was jailed for life in 2020 after a jury found him guilty of the first degree murder of his stepfather and guilty of second degree murder of his mother.
Connell launched an appeal against his conviction for killing Mrs Higginbotham and continued to claim his stepfather was to blame.
His legal team argued there was not enough evidence to identify him as his mother's killer despite him admitting it in a police interview after he was arrested.
However, judges at the California Court of Appeals rejected Connell's appeal and said his conviction should stand.
In a written ruling, Justice Dennis Perluss said: "Not only did he attempt to destroy the evidence at the crime scene as it related to both victims and then to flee after his aunt said she intended to notify law enforcement, but in his second interview also admitted he had killed Kim.
"That admission was not simply a false statement evidencing consciousness of guilt; it was a confession.
"The jury was entitled to believe that version of Kim's murder was true, not the child-abuse-related story Connell told at trial.
"In addition, Connell's claim of physically overpowering Christopher before killing him to avenge Christopher's shooting of Kim was inconsistent with Connell's earlier testimony about his own medical difficulties, which included his body breaking down, a bad back and three knee surgeries."
Justice Perluss added that Connell's motive for the killing may have been his frequent arguments with his mother over his drinking and his desire to access her money.
He added: "There was evidence from which the jury could have concluded that Connell believed killing Kim, as well as Christopher, was necessary for Connell to continue to have access to their money to fund his use (abuse) of alcohol and other substances.
"Connell was unemployed and his finances were a mess. He often called his parents his 'cash cows'."
Connell will have to return to court to be re-sentenced for the offences after the appeal judges ruled an error had been made when he was jailed.
He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his mother's murder rather than his stepfather's.
The actual sentence for the second degree murder should have been 15 years to life.
However, he is still likely to never be released as the judges instructed that he should receive life without parole for killing Mr Higginbotham.
Connell's trial at Kern County Superior Court heard his aunt Sonia called 911 from her home in Scotland in the early hours of April 30, 2016.
She alerted police after Connell picked up a FaceTime call from her to his mother's iPad and showed her the two dead bodies.
Mrs Higginbotham died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Her husband had gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and shoulder and also had "significant injuries to his face and head".
Connell was born in Rutherglen Maternity and lived with his mother in Shawlands on Glasgow's south side as a child.
She met her future husband while he was stationed with the US navy in Scotland and moved with her son to America when he was four years old. Before her death, she had worked for 16 years as a teacher at an elementary school.
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