An appeal by a former Northampton County chief of police, sentenced for the murder of his wife, has been denied.

On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court denied Edward Yale's appeal for the murder of his second wife, Joan Yale.The decision means Edward Yale will continue to serve his sentence in state prison.Edward Yale was sentenced on Nov. 19, 2015, to20-40 years for the murder of Joan Yale.The Yale case was a cold case homicide investigation reopened in 2013 through the investigating grand jury.Joan Yale was killed in 2001 by Edward Yale over an ongoing disputeto add his name to the deed to her residence.On March 22, 2001,Joan Yale was found at the foot of the staircase leading from the kitchen to the garage.She had suffered massive injuries to her head and chest. Initially, the medical examiner ruled that she had died from blunt-force trauma, but made no determination regarding the manner of death.Edward Yale, an ex-police chief of Upper Mount Bethel Township and former boxer, was not charged with a crime.Years later,the state police re-examined the evidence and asked Dr. Marianne Hamel,a board certified forensic pathologist, to review the case. Hamel concluded that the traumawas not consistent with a fall down the steps, but rather, she believed Joan Yale had, essentially, been "stomped" to death.John Yale wascharged with the murder ofhis second wife.Following his conviction and sentence, John Yale, through his attorney Marshall Anders, filed an appeal to the Superior Court.The case was presented at trial by Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso.On Aug. 31, Mancuso and Anders argued the appeal before a panel of three Superior Court Judges in Philadelphia.The appeal challenged several of the trial court's rulings.