BOZEMAN — A southwestern Montana man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that allege he shot a woman during a child custody exchange at his house in Ennis.
Bail was set at $1 million for Rick Park, 43, on a deliberate homicide charge in the Oct. 23 death of Nicole Watson, 36, of Helena, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Watson’s husband told officers that he and Watson went to Park’s house as part of a child custody exchange. They knocked on the door, Park opened it and shot Watson in the face and in the head. Park then told him to call 911, the husband reported.
Park told responding officers that he shot Watson and surrendered the gun, court records said.
Madison County Attorney Chris Christensen recommended $500,000 bail while defense attorney Walter Hennessy said Park was indigent and a $50,000 bail amount would be “somewhat high.”
District Judge Luke Berger said that given the allegations, he didn’t feel “a bond of anything less than $1 million is appropriate.