BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — Judith Carpenter, the woman who faces a first-degree murder charge for the 2017 killing of 78-year-old Shirley Ramey in Hope, Idaho, pleaded not guilty on Monday in Bonner County District Court.
Carpenter allegedly shot Ramey, who was a longtime Hope city clerk, in the head at Ramey's home on Trestle Creek Road. Investigators found that the murder appeared to be random, while court documents state Carpenter intended to rob Ramey.
Carpenter would be arrested later the same day as the killing after pulling a gun on a couple in Montana during a road rage incident. While the murder case had since turned into a cold case, a federal investigator's request to test Carpenter's pistol from the road rage incident linked her to Ramey's killing less than two years later.
At an October 2, 2019 hearing, testimony given by prosecutors said it appeared that Carpenter wanted to shoot someone.
"[Carpenter] wanted to shoot things and she wanted to shoot people," a prosecutor said during closing arguments.
Carpenter had also called 911 in Kootenai County earlier in the day of the killing, saying someone was breaking into her house, according to testimony. Cell phone records placed her in Sagle about 30 minutes to an hour before Ramey's death.
One of the deputies that arrested Carpenter in Montana said she was "delusional"
