Man who shot dead his stepdaughter and had sex with her corpse contests his wife's request for a divorce from prison

Gregory Graf, 55, (left) refused to sign documents allowing the assets he shared with his wife Danelle Bittner (right) to be divided, even when they would benefit him. Photo . Northampton County Jail

A man serving life without parole for killing his stepdaughter and having sex with her corpse is now contesting the terms of his divorce from the victim's mother.

Gregory Graf, 55, who appeared in court through a video feed from his Pennsylvania prison cell, refused to sign documents that would give him 25 per cent of his shared assets with Danelle Bittner.

Graf shot his 33-year-old stepdaughter Jessica Padgett in the back of the head before he filmed himself sexually abusing her corpse just weeks after Bittner first asked for a divorce in 2014.

Graf has been uncooperative with the divorce proceedings, even in circumstances that would benefit him. He did not give a reason, the Daily Mail reported.

The 55-year-old refused to sign documents allowing the assets he shared with his wife to be divided, saying he never agreed to receiving 25 per cent.

Under the conditions of the agreement, Graf would get $130,000 from two mutual funds in addition to 25 per cent of the sale of his home in Edgewater, Florida, The Allentown Morning Call reported.

He would also receive 100 per cent of the money made from auctioning his guns, hunting equipment and mounted animal heads.

Graf's attorney, Jack McMahon, said the convicted murderer was happy with the agreement when it was reached in February.

Graf, however, claims McMahon didn't give him the proper information.

In light of the murderer's comments, McMahon said he may reconsider representing Graf in a wrongful death and intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit filed by Jessica Padgett's husband.

Graf killed Padgett, who once described him as her second father, just weeks after Bittner filed for divorce.

Padgett was reported missing on November 21, 2014, the same day she told coworkers at Duck Duck Goose Child Care that she was heading to her stepfather's house to use his fax machine.

Five days later her body was found under a pile of leaves behind a shed on the 2.8ha property on Covered Bridge Rd, where Graf lived with Bittner.

While searching the couple's property, police found a pair of tan sandals that Bittner said her husband "always wore", according to the Morning Call.

The straps of the sandals were found in a basement garbage can stained with what a chemical test revealed was blood, police said.

Authorities also seized 13 bags of marijuana and confiscated $42,000 and envelopes containing marijuana seeds from a safe in Graf's basement.

A jury watched videos Graf made of himself sexually abusing Padgett's corpse, and spectators in the court could hear the audio, which included profane comments about her body.

The jury deliberated for less than 10 minutes before they found him guilty of first-degree murder, for which he was sentenced life in prison without parole.