Still, no one witnessed the murder, and from the start, defense lawyers argued the real culprit might be Mr. Haughn, who had dated Ms. Woods on and off since high school and was Mr. Cortez’s rival for her affection in a stormy love triangle.

Image Catherine Woods in 2001. The man convicted of slashing her throat is seeking a new trial. Credit... Columbus Dispatch, via Associated Press

Though they had recently broken up, Mr. Haughn was staying with Ms. Woods and working at a nearby building as a doorman. He testified he left the apartment on the evening of Nov. 27, 2005, to get his car to drive her to work. She never came downstairs. He went inside, found her body and called 911.

Though Mr. Haughn was initially a suspect, the police soon decided Mr. Cortez was the killer. His fingerprint was lifted from what appeared to be a bloody handprint on a Sheetrock wall, a police forensic scientist testified.

Mr. Cortez’s lawyers, however, have found four forensic experts who say in sworn affidavits the evidence strongly suggests the fingerprint was on the wall before the blood was splattered over it.

Perhaps the most powerful argument defense lawyers have for setting aside the verdict, however, has to do with the timeline of the crime.

A security camera at a nearby garage showed Mr. Haughn and Ms. Woods returning at 5 p.m. to her apartment building at 86th Street and First Avenue, walking with his dog. She went upstairs and placed a call to Mr. Cortez while Mr. Haughn went with the dog to buy takeout, returning with the food, evidence at trial showed.

About an hour later, at 6:18 p.m., an upstairs neighbor, Aaron Gold, got a call from his fiancée, Diana Propp. About 10 minutes into the call, he heard a woman scream, scuffling, a second scream, then a third, he testified. He looked out in the hallway, saw nothing and ended the call at 6:40 p.m.