BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — The Bonner County Sheriff announced on Friday afternoon that a suspect was arrested in connection to the 2017 death of 78-year-old Shirley Ramey.
Judith Carpenter, 57, was arrested in Coeur d’Alene Friday. She is being held in the Bonner County Jail for first degree murder. Her bond has been set at $1 million.
Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said the killing appears to be random and the department has not found a motive. But he was certain that this time, they have the right person in custody.
Ramey died after being shot inside her home on Trestle Creek Road more than two years ago. Investigators said at the time that Ramey was found by her husband on April 5.
A close family friend previously told KREM 2 that Ramey’s husband found her lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the back of her head.
On Friday, Wheeler said shell casings from the scene of murder matched that of a gun that was seized during a road rage incident that Carpenter was arrested for in Libby, Montana, just two hours before Ramey's death was reported.
A Glock 9 mm pistol and a Savage Model 99 rifle that belonged to the Rameys was seized during the Libby, Montana incident, Wheeler said.
Wheeler said a total of four 9 mm shell casings were recovered from the crime scene. Two were found inside the house and two were found along Trestle Creek Road.
The 9 mm handgun was turned over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Feb. 6, 2018, Wheeler said. They ran the firearm's shell casings through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and got a match for the on May 18, 2019, Wheeler said. After examination, Wheeler said it was a confirmed match to the casing collected at the Hope crime scene.
Wheeler said Carpenter purchased the 9 mm in Coeur d'Alene in 2005. He said she also checked that gun in at the border of Canada days before the murder.
After the arrest, members of the sheriff's office and the ATF searched Carpenter's home and found the original box with a matching serial number to the 9 mm used in the Ramey homicide.
He said the investigation is ongoing.
Transient previously arrested as suspect
Originally, BCSO named a local transient, Nathan Utt, as a suspect in the case. After interviewing him, however, detectives said they realized he had an alibi that checked out and put him out of the state at the time of the homicide. Utt was cleared of all charges.
Ramey worked for the city of Hope as a clerk for decades and volunteered locally. She also had two grown children. According to her obituary, she was married to her husband for 57 years.
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