By Associated Press - Friday, June 19, 2020

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Billings woman pleaded not guilty Friday in the stabbing death of a 37-year-old man.

Charlotte Rodarte-Spang made an initial appearance in Yellowstone County District Court on a single count of deliberate homicide, The Billings Gazette reported.

She is accused of killing Leon Gerald Gustafson on June 12.



District Judge Ashley Harada set bail at $500,000.

Gustafson had allegedly gone to Rodarte-Spang’s house to purchase methamphetamine, according to charging documents.

The two had been sitting on a couch, along with Rodarte-Spang’s brother, when she yelled something about Gustafson “snitching” on her, according to the documents.

Rodarte-Spang stabbed Gustafson when he confronted her about hitting him in the face with a remote control, the documents said.

Officers responding to the disturbance found the victim’s body and later took Rodart-Spang into custody.

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The defendant’s brother, Dustin Rodarte, told detectives his sister was known to keep knives on her and had stabbed others previously, according to the documents.

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