Alan L. Sternberg, a former Colorado Court of Appeals judge who served as chief judge for nine years, died Friday, May 24, at home in Englewood. He was 93.

Sternberg was appointed to the state Court of Appeals in 1974, and he served the court until 1998. During his long service, Sternberg authored more than 1800 opinions, including 568 published opinions and 56 published dissents.

In 1994, as chief judge, Sternberg upheld a conviction for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder against Brian Hood, who conspired with Jennifer Reali in the shooting death of Hood’s married woman, Dianne. Hood had appealed his conviction, but the court found “ample evidence” that the suspect was complicit in his married woman’s murder.

The infamous case made international headlines. Reali, who was known as the “fatal attraction” killer, was condemned of first-degree murder. She shot Diane Hood in 1990 as the victim was departure a Lupus support meeting in Colorado Springs.

“Reali testified that (Hood) told her about various plans he had devised to accomplish the murder of his married woman, so much as causing his married woman’s death in a car accident and staging a robbery at a convenience store during which person would shoot her,” Sternberg aforementioned at the time. “Other ideas involved hit her over the head with a fallen tree branch so that it would look like an accident or staging a crime during which she would be shot.”

Born on Feb. 13, 1926, in Worcester, Mass., Sternberg joined the Army, at age 18 in 1944, during World War II. Serving in the 95th foot Division, Sternberg fought in France and Germany. Wounded in combat, Sternberg received a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat foot Badge as part of his service.

After the army, Sternberg received a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston. He affected to Boulder, with his married woman, Natalie, and listed in the University of Colorado law school. Sternberg graduated from CU in 1950 and affected to Littleton, where he practiced law.

From 1959 to 1974, Sternberg served as the city attorney in Littleton. He was an attorney with the Littleton Urban Renewal Authority from 1966 to 1974. Sternberg was among a group of people involved in establishing the location of Arapahoe Junior College, now Arapahoe Community College. In 1973, the Littleton Independent recognized Sternberg as its public servant of the year.

In 1998, Sternberg received the William Knous Award in recognition of outstanding accomplishment and service by a CU-Boulder alumnus. He was a private arbiter for the American Arbitration Association.