Trial ordered in Ramey killing

SANDPOINT — A Coeur d’Alene woman was ordered Wednesday to stand trial for the first-degree murder of Shirley Ann Ramey, a retired city clerk who was found shot to death in her Hope home two years ago.

Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Justin Julian found there was sufficient evidence to justify trying Judith Marie Carpenter in 1st District Court. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 21.

Carpenter, 57, remains held at the Bonner County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

Carpenter invoked her right to remain silent during Wednesday’s preliminary hearing, although she stated in a previous court proceeding that she did not kill Ramey.

Carpenter is accused of gunning Ramey down on the deck of her Trestle Creek Road home on April 5, 2017. A criminal complaint alternately alleges first-degree murder or first-degree murder during the commission of a burglary.

Ramey’s widower, Daryl, was the state’s first witness during Wednesday’s hearing.

“When did you realize something was wrong?” asked Deputy Prosecutor Valerie Fenton.

“As soon as a I stepped up on the deck. The door was open and I saw my wife,” Ramey answered, emotionally explaining that she was lying in a pool of blood.

Daryl Ramey said he held his 78-year-old wife’s hand as he waited for Bonner County sheriff’s deputies to arrive.

Sheriff’s Det. Matthew Wallace told the court that there were no obvious signs of a burglary. A purse and other valuables in the home were in plain sight.

“It appeared to be undisturbed,” Wallace said of the home.

However, a Savage Model 99 — a .308-caliber, lever-action rifle — was later discovered missing from the residence, according to court documents.

Two 9-millimeter shell casings were found on the home’s deck, Wallace told the court. A projectile was also found in an interior soffit above a bay window in the home’s living room. A half mile up the road, shell casings from the same manufacturer were found outside a small camp trailer, which Wallace said appeared to have fresh bullet holes.

The occupant of the trailer parked along Trestle Creek Road, Nathan Lane Utt, was initially suspected of Shirley Ramey’s killing, although it was later determined that he had a verified alibi and was not in the area when she was killed.

The casings recovered from the killing were entered into the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives’ National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, which allows for the high-definition capture and comparison of ballistic evidence. The casings were subsequently matched to a Glock semiautomatic pistol that was being held by sheriff’s officials in Lincoln County, Mont.

The Glock belonged to Carpenter, who was charged in Montana with threatening another motorist with a gun the same day Ramey was killed. Authorities there also seized a Savage Model 99 that was found in Carpenter’s possession.

Detective Phil Stella testified the rifle had not yet been reported to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center as stolen weapon.

“It was not entered (into NCIC) at the time they did their search,” Stella told the court.

Daryl Ramey testified that he believed sheriff’s officials here had taken the rifle in their sweep for evidence, but later discovered it was not among the property that was taken and later returned to him. Carpenter, meanwhile, told investigators in Lincoln County that she happened across the rifle at a highway pullout in Montana.

Stella also testified that a cellphone tower communicated with Carpenter’s device in Sagle on the morning Shirley Ramey was killed. It pinged with a tower in Montana several hours later, he said.

Stuart Jacobson, a forensic analyst with Idaho State Police, testified that all of the recovered casings recovered matched test-fired casings from Carpenter’s Glock through comparison microscope analyses of firing pin aperture shear, firing pin drag and other markings.

“In my opinion, they were a match,” Jacobson testified.

Carpenter’s counsel, Coeur d’Alene attorney Joseph Sullivan, argued the state had not met its burden of showing that it’s more likely than not his client committed the burglary, let alone killed Shirley Ramey.

“There was no evidence Mrs. Carpenter was even in the home,” Sullivan said, adding that there was no evidence the slaying was premeditated.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dan Rodriguez countered that the ballistic evidence was conclusive. She was also found to be in Bonner County on the day Shirley Ramey was killed.

“She wanted to shoot things and she wanted to shoot people,” Rodriguez said.

Julian found there was not a great deal of direct evidence, although the circumstantial evidence, such as Carpenter’s possession of the stolen rifle, was compelling. Julian found Carpenter’s claim of finding the weapon on the roadside was possible but not very likely.

“The evidence paints a very strong picture,” Julian said.

Carpenter’s counsel moved for a reduction in bond due to her ties to the community, lack of prior criminal record and a support system to ensure she appears in court.

The state opposed a reduction, noting that Carpenter has ties to Washington state and Canada, places she could flee to avoid prosecution on charges that could result in lifelong imprisonment. The state also noted that Carpenter’s arrest was followed by stays in state hospitals in Montana and Idaho.

Julian declined to reduce bail.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.