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Court upholds Daniel Messel's convinction & sentence in 2015 murder of IU student Hannah Wilson

Court upholds Daniel Messel's convinction & sentence in 2015 murder of IU student Hannah Wilson
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BROWN COUNTY, Ind. -- An Indiana appeals court has upheld the conviction and sentence of a man found guilty of murdering an Indiana University student in 2015. 

Daniel Messel, 51, is serving an 80-year-sentence after he was found guilty last fall in the murder of Hannah Wilson. He was sentenced to 60 years for the murder and another 20 years for being a habitual offender. 

In Messel's appeal which was filed back in April, his attorney argued that the sentence handed down by a Brown County Judge was "unfair and excessive."

Last week, a judge denied Messel's request to appear in-person during his court hearings, saying there was no reason for him to be present unless a major issue was of discussion. 

RELATED | Daniel Messel appeals conviction in 2015 murder of IU student Hannah Wilson | Daniel Messel's request to appear in-person during court hearings denied by judge

Wilson was a senior at IU when her body was found in a vacant lot in Brown County in 2015. Messel’s phone was found lying nearby, and investigators found her blood, hair and DNA in Messel’s 2012 Kia SUV.

A coroner later determined that Wilson had died from blunt force trauma to her head.

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