Judge enters innocent plea for murder suspect

District Judge Ted Lympus on Thursday entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Lawrence Roedel, charged with murdering his common-law wife, Dawn Thompson.

She was shot to death at the couple's Ferndale home a month ago.

Roedel, 66, appeared at his arraignment without an attorney, saying he hasn't been able to find a lawyer to take his case or raise money to hire one. A Sept. 15 arraignment had been delayed until Thursday to allow Roedel to find an attorney.

The lawyers he's talked to "want a substantial amount of money up front," he said, although he's trying to liquidate property to pay legal fees.

"It's very hard, incarcerated, to get these things to come about, but I do have things in motion," he told Lympus.

County Attorney Ed Corrigan asked that an innocent plea be entered for Roedel to move the process along.

"I don't think we can wait until Mr. Roedel liquidates his assets," Corrigan said.

He also asked that Roedel waive his right to a speedy trial because of the delay.

"We would prefer not to waive my right to speedy trial," Roedel responded.

"Then you've got to get moving," Lympus told him. "One way or another, you can't put this off in this fashion. Do you understand?"

The judge told Roedel that prosecutors also have a right to a speedy trial.

"The delay hasn't been deliberate," Roedel said. "I have my property and belongings on the market."

Lympus said he would forward Roedel's case to the chief public defender to see whether Roedel qualifies for free representation.

Roedel, jailed on a $1 million bond, appeared in jail clothing and had a slight head tremor at the hearing.

He was arrested after calling 911 on Aug. 27, saying he had shot and possibly killed Thompson, 36.

He allegedly has said the shooting was accidental, but Flathead County Sheriff's Office officials have said they found evidence that it was not.

Thompson was found dead, with a gunshot in the back, at the bottom of a stairway in their home. Law-enforcement officials say evidence suggests that two other shots had been fired from a .357-caliber semi-automatic revolver.

Roedel was charged with deliberate homicide, which carries a penalty of as many as 100 years or life in prison.

Lympus scheduled a trial for Roedel for the Jan. 3 trial term in Flathead District Court.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com