LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has denied the post-conviction appeal of a Norfolk man sentenced to life in prison for the stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend.

Leodan Alarcon-Chavez was convicted of first-degree murder, use of a weapon to commit a felony and tampering with a witness in the March 2010 death of 30-year-old Maria Villareal.

Prosecutors say Alarcon-Chavez stabbed Villareal in her apartment while he was awaiting trial for allegedly threatening to kill her several months earlier.

On Friday, the state’s high court agreed with a lower court’s finding that denied Alarcon-Chavez’s arguments that his trial lawyer was ineffective.