Defense in Ramey killing granted time for psych eval

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

District Court Judge Barbara A. Buchanan approved an arraignment continuance request Oct. 21 for Judith Carpenter, the Coeur d’Alene woman accused of killing Shirley Ramey at Ramey’s home in Hope in April 2017.

Judith Carpenter.

Defense attorney Robyn McPherson told the judge that Carpenter would not be entering a plea at the Oct. 21 arraignment, but the defense would instead request a continuance of about a month so that her client could undergo a psychological evaluation. 

Buchanan approved the request and the plea entry is now scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. at the Bonner County Courthouse.

Carpenter has been in custody since August, when Bonner County detectives and ATF authorities were able to match bullet casings at the Ramey home to casings from Carpenter’s 9-millimeter handgun, confiscated in a road rage incident in Libby, Mont., the same day Ramey was killed. Also found in Carpenter’s vehicle during the road rage incident was a Savage Model 99 rifle, later determined to belong to Ramey’s husband Daryl. Daryl noticed the gun missing after his wife’s death.