BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A South Central District judge has rejected a defense request to suppress some evidence in a Bismarck murder conspiracy case.
Attorneys for Earl Howard and Nikkisue Entzel argued the evidence, including cellphone and video surveillance, was improperly gathered without search warrants or with warrants that weren’t properly supported by law enforcement affidavits.
The 42-year-old Howard and the victim’s 40-year-old wife, are charged with murder conspiracy, arson and arson conspiracy, and evidence tampering in the death of 42-year-old Chad Entzel, of Bismarck.
Chad Entzel’s body was found in January 2020 when emergency workers responded to a call of a house fire in northeast Bismarck. An autopsy showed he died of gunshot wounds, the Bismarck Tribune reported.
A sheriff’s deputy earlier testified Howard and Nikkisue Entzel began plotting the victim’s death a month before it happened, in an apparent love triangle with plans to cash in on a life insurance policy.
South Central District Judge Douglas Bahr denied the defense request regarding the evidence, but Thursday he granted the state’s motion to dismiss Howard’s murder charge.
Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer said an evaluation of the firearm didn’t show who shot Chad Entzel. Without that evidence the state couldn’t corroborate Nikkisue Entzel’s statement that Howard shot him, Lawyer said.
The trial for the two starts May 17.
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