Elderly killer to appeal on WA conviction

An elderly man who faced four trials over the death of a woman in Perth almost 25 years ago intends to appeal against his conviction again.

Ronald Leslie Pennington, 86, was found guilty in July of unlawfully killing 41-year-old Cariad Anderson-Slater in 1992.

Ms Anderson-Slater's remains were uncovered 19 years later during earthmoving works in the backyard of the home Pennington had rented.

The West Australian Supreme Court heard on Friday during sentencing submissions that Pennington planned to appeal against the conviction.

Lawyer Simon Freitag also submitted that his client, who had been behind bars for almost three years, should be given a suspended jail term because of his age and ill health.

Pennington was originally charged with murder, but was found guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail.

He successfully appealed against his conviction but then the jury in his second trial could not reach a verdict.

A third trial was aborted because a juror disobeyed the judge's directions.

Justice Michael Corboy will sentence Pennington later this month.