Eric Koula
UPDATE: 3/29 at 2:48 p.m.
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- The children of a western Wisconsin man convicted of killing his parents will inherit part of their grandparents' estate.
Probate records filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court show Eric Koula's two children will split $740,000 when they're older.
Koula is serving two life sentences for the deaths of his parents, Dennis and Merna Koula. The couple's daughter will also receive $740,000. The parents' will named Koula and his sister as representatives of the estate. But a judge removed Eric Koula following his arrest.
Prosecutors argued at Koula's trial that his deep debt and floundering day trading career drove him to kill his parents for the inheritance. The La Crosse Tribune says Koula, his wife and two children continue to believe he's innocent.
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ORIGINAL STORY: 8/15/12 at 12:00 p.m
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- A man convicted of killing his parents has been sentenced in La Crosse County to life in prison.
Prosecutors say Eric Koula was motivated by inheritance money when he fatally shot Dennis and Merna Koula at their home in the town of Barre in May of 2010. The defense argued both were victims of a professional killer. Defense attorney Jim Korby says there's no forensic evidence linking Koula to the crime -- no fingerprints, no DNA, no murder weapon.
Judge Scott Horne told Koula he will never be eligible for supervised release. Jurors found the struggling day trader shot his mother at her home office computer and then waited for his father and shot him as he walked in the room.
WXOW-TV says Koula maintained his innocence at sentencing Wednesday, telling the judge he thinks about his parents every day and wishes he could talk to them. Koula says he will continue to fight for his release because "the person who did this is still out there."
The 68-year-old father and 65-year-old mother died instantly of gunshot wounds to the head May 21.
