Suspect pleads innocent in rape, kidnapping case

The Daily Inter LakeMan was arrested in May after 3-hour standoff in Kalispell

A former Colorado resident has pleaded innocent to the rape and kidnapping of a Martin City woman.

During his arraignment Tuesday in Flathead County District Court, Matthew Gene Rockwell, 22, entered not-guilty pleas to sexual intercourse without consent, kidnapping, and burglary - all felonies.

Rockwell is accused of using a pistol stolen from a Bigfork home to threaten the 26-year-old woman at her Martin City home on Nov. 19. After threatening her, Rockwell drove the woman against her will to Las Vegas, where she escaped from him on Nov. 24, authorities said.

The woman told investigators she had been raped repeatedly.

According to court documents, Rockwell told the woman he stole the .45-caliber pistol from a home on Blenn Street in Bigfork. The pistol's owner, the father of one of Rockwell's friends, told investigators he hadn't seen Rockwell in about 18 months.

The alleged victim reportedly convinced Rockwell to throw the gun into a creek in Clark County, Idaho.

Deputies from the Clark County Sheriff's Office recovered a pistol from the location described by the alleged victim and matched its serial number to the gun stolen in Bigfork.

Rockwell, whose last known address was in Grand Junction, Colo., was arrested Dec. 1 at his mother's home in Bozeman, where she is a student.

Rockwell initially was charged with one count of burglary and ordered held on $75,000 bail, but after the additional charges were filed, bail was increased to $150,000.

If convicted, Rockwell could face up to 130 years in prison and a $150,000 fine.

In May, Rockwell was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center for a mental health evaluation after a three-hour armed standoff with sheriff's deputies and Kalispell police at a home on Sixth Avenue West.

Investigators found a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol and two suicide notes inside the home.