Looked up this story in the local paper for a bit more context

Responding officers found Towery in his home dead from multiple stab wounds. Part of a lamp was stuck in his throat.

Unsure how this happens in a self defense situation. Imo if you were threatened and under duress you’re gonna do what you have to do, but he was 80 years old

Fearing for her life and fueled by crack cocaine, she overcame Towery and stabbed him repeatedly – 58 times according to an autopsy report. The evidence showed Holberg also beat Towery with a claw hammer multiple times. “I lost it," Holberg told jurors.

The reasoning behind the Trump-appointed judge’s dissent:

“No jury in its right mind would believe that a 23-year-old cocaine-addled prostitute ‘defended’ herself against a frail old man by (1) stabbing him 58 times, (2) bludgeoning him with various objects including a steam iron, and (3) ramming a lamp base down his throat while he was still alive,” Duncan wrote.

In the surface that’s pretty reasonable, but the issue is the planted informant being encouraged to further incriminate the defendant:

However, the majority of the judges believed prosecutors heavily relied on Kirkpatrick’s testimony – particularly her description of how Holberg enjoyed killing Towery – to secure the conviction and during the punishment phase of the trial when they asked for the death sentence.