POLSON — A western Montana woman has pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide in the May 2018 shooting death of her former boyfriend in Thompson Falls.
The Lake County Leader reports Danielle Jeanette Wood of Polson was arrested in March and entered her plea Tuesday via video before District Judge Kim Christopher. She remains jailed on $1 million bail.
A co-worker found the body of 51-year-old Matthew LaFriniere under a piece of plywood outside his house. He had been shot in the chest, back and hand.
Prosecutors said LaFriniere had won custody of the couple’s 5-year-old daughter and that a bullet found in his hand was “consistent” with a gun Wood had purchased in March 2018. Court records say cellphone evidence and statements from family and neighbors also linked Wood to the crime.
Her trial is set for September.