BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Billings sister and brother pleaded not guilty Thursday in the beating death and dismemberment of the woman’s boyfriend.
Carri Standsoverbull, 40, entered her plea to a charge of deliberate homicide in the March 2015 death of 38-year-old Jeffery Hewitt.
She also denied an alternative charge of negligent homicide and other counts, The Billings Gazette (https://bit.ly/2jCqt5x) reported. Her bail was set at $500,000.
Patrick Standsoverbull, 35, pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and evidence tampering. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Prosecutors allege that at least five people, including the siblings, beat Hewitt in Carri Standsoverbull’s apartment and that he was left - badly injured - in a back room until he died.
Carrie Standsoverbull told authorities she was afraid of Hewitt because he had beaten her and hurt her children, court records said.
Authorities at one point tried to do a welfare check on Hewitt but Carrie Standsoverbull would not let officers inside her apartment, the records said.
Patrick Standsoverbull told authorities that his sister asked for help disposing of Hewitt’s body after he died.
Charging documents say the body was put in a suitcase and taken to the Crow Indian Reservation, where it was dismembered and burned.
___
Information from: The Billings Gazette, https://www.billingsgazette.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.