Murder conviction upheld

BOISE (AP) - The Idaho Supreme Court upheld the first-degree murder conviction Monday of a Boise man who killed an 8-year-old boy and reported the child missing.

The Idaho Statesman reports that 42-year-old Daniel Ehrlick Jr. will continue serving two life sentences despite claims in his appeal that jurors were influenced by the prosecution's ability to call him a liar in court.

Justice Joel Horton wrote the court's decision, which says the prosecutor explained evidence that shows Ehrlick misled the investigation.

Third-grader Robert Manwill's body was found floating in a Boise canal in 2009 with extensive injuries to his abdomen and head. More than 2,300 people volunteered for the search, one of the largest in Boise's history.

Investigators concluded Ehrlick slammed the boy's head through a wall. A state pathologist testified at trial that blunt force trauma from an assault was the cause of death.

A physician stated during the trail that Robert's chest injuries were consistent with a 277-pound man kneeling on his chest. Ehrlick had said he used his knees to "keep him from wiggling," a statement his appeal claimed was misrepresented as being tied to the boy's death.

At trial, Ehrlick had said any punishment he gave Manwill or the two other kids living in the house was sanction by the boy's mother, Melissa Jenkins.

Ehrlick's girlfriend at the time, Jenkins was convicted of aiding and abetting the murder. She's serving her sentence at Pocatello Women's Correctional Institution and is scheduled for release in August 2034.

Jurors also convicted Ehrlick of failing to report a death to law enforcement.