Hearing reset in Ramey murder
SANDPOINT — A preliminary hearing is being postponed for a Coeur d’Alene woman accused of murdering Shirley Ann Ramey.
The hearing was set for Wednesday in Judith Marie Carpenter’s case, but her defense counsel, Coeur d’Alene attorney Joseph Sullivan, moved for a continuance to allow for more time to review evidence in the case, court records indicate.
The hearing was reset for Sept. 11 in Bonner County Magistrate Court.
Carpenter is accused of shooting Ramey to death inside Ramey’s home in the Trestle Creek drainage on April 5, 2017. Ramey was shot twice in the head while standing in or near her back door.
Investigators broke the case using the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, which allows for the capture and comparison of ballistic evidence.
Casings collected at the scene were subjected to 360-degree, high-definition imaging and entered into NIBIN. Investigators also placed inquiries with regional law enforcement to see if they were holding any 9-millimeter pistols as evidence. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office had the alleged murder weapon all along it turned out.
Montana deputies seized Carpenter’s Glock Model 19 semiautomatic pistol after she allegedly pointed it at another motorist on the same day Ramey was slain. They also recovered from Carpenter a Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle that was determined to be stolen from the Ramey residence.
Carpenter’s Glock was test fired and the casings were entered into NIBIN, which produced a match to the crime scene casings. Idaho State Police, meanwhile, matched the tool marks found on a recovered projectiles with ones test fired from Carpenter’s Glock, according to Bonner County sheriff’s officials.
Carpenter, a 57-year-old real estate appraiser, denied committing the crime when she made an initial court appearance earlier this month. She is being held at the Bonner County Jail and her bail is set at $1 million.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.