Jerome Ersland, Oklahoma City pharmacist convicted of murder, has fired his attorney

“I no longer desire your services on my case as of April 6,” Ersland wrote Box in the notarized termination letter.

Box, a longtime Oklahoma City attorney, began representing Ersland shortly after the 2009 shooting. Box was the pharmacist's lead attorney at the murder trial last year. Box already has begun Ersland's appeal at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

Box said the letter was delivered to his law office Tuesday.

“I wish him the best,” Box said.

Representing Ersland now is Doug Friesen, an Oklahoma City attorney who specializes in cases involving gun rights. In an online letter to gun owners, Friesen calls himself “Your Gun Lawyer.”

A news conference is set for Wednesday morning at Friesen's law office.

Ersland changed attorneys because he was unhappy with his appeal, supporter Karen Monahan said Tuesday.

She and another supporter, Sen. Ralph Shortey, R-Oklahoma City, visited Ersland in prison Friday. “He didn't like the appeal at all. He just said with that appeal, he didn't think he had a chance. ... That's kind of what turned him right there,” Monahan said.