SAN DIEGO -- Cynthia Sommer was convicted of poisoning her Marine husband to death with arsenic.

The case against her was based on circumstantial evidence, and several of Sommer’s friends told 10News’ Juliette Vara that they thought the jury was wrong to convict her.

Sommer’s friends said that during her marriage to Todd Sommer, she rarely partied or consumed alcohol.

However, after Todd Sommer’s death, Cynthia Sommer began to drink heavily and at times neglected her children.

“She was like an older sister. I looked up to her as a sister,” said Sommer’s friend, Dana Benton.

It was a friendship that blossomed almost immediately.

Benton, Shannon Tinker and Chantra Wells all met Sommer while working together at a local Subway restaurant.

Benton added, “She's a good person, caring, friendly."

Her friends said Sommer was extremely flirtatious and was someone who loved to show off and craved male attention.

“She liked being the center of attention. She was always the center, she made sure of it. She would show off her breasts all the time," said Tinker.

According to her friends, Sommer showed off and often bragged about the breast implants she got after her husband died.

"That's Cindy, that's her," said Tinker.

Prosecutors used Sommer’s behavior against her in court. They convinced a jury that Sommer poisoned her husband in order to receive a $250,000 life insurance policy.

The money was used to purchase the implants and to support a wild lifestyle that began just weeks after her husband’s death, prosecutors said.

"She was just having fun,” said Tinker.

The fun in which Sommer took part included all-night parties in Tijuana, where her friends said Sommer participated in thong contests. She also had different sexual partners and wild trips to Vegas.

“What do you make of her behavior after Todd's death?" 10News reporter Juliette Vara asked the women.

“It was bizarre, seemed inappropriate,” said Benton.

Benton and Tinker accompanied Sommer to Las Vegas just two months after her husband’s funeral.

While in Vegas, the women said Sommer spent most of the time gambling and drinking.

Vara asked the women, ”When you guys were in Tijuana and Vegas, did you ever see her break down and cry?”

Wells replied, “No, I never saw her break down.”

In a 10News interview following her conviction, Sommer admitted that she did turn to alcohol as a way of grieving and numbing the pain.

Sommer maintained that does not make her guilty.

“Did you ever suspect she killed her husband, ever?" Vara asked the women.

“I thought it was weird because of her actions, but I never thought she did it. I wouldn't be her friend if I thought she was a murderer," said Tinker.

However, in the eyes of a jury, Sommer was guilty of murder.

Sommer’s friends said that they do believe she coped with the tragic loss of her husband by drinking and parties.

Sommer is currently attempting to appeal her case and told Vara that she is confident about her chances for an appeal.