Woman charged in husband's shooting death

A Libby woman faces charges of deliberate homicide and evidence tampering in connection with her husband’s shooting death.

Connie Jean Leckrone, 62, is scheduled to be arraigned on both counts Jan. 3, 2018, said Lincoln County Attorney Marcia Boris on Friday.

According to court documents, Leckrone called 911 about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17 to report that her husband, Dean Leckrone, 69, “had accidentally shot himself in their home.” Responding law enforcement officers found his body in a bedroom closet.

Connie Jean Leckrone directed Libby Police Sgt. Darren Short, the first officer to arrive, to a dresser drawer containing a .44-caliber revolver with “one spent casing in the cylinder,” a court document states. She told Short she moved the gun after finding her husband and before calling 911.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Dodson, while interviewing Leckrone later that evening at the Sheriff’s Office, “noted numerous inconsistencies in what she was telling him” and that she had “changed her account of the events surrounding Dean’s death multiple times,” the court document states.

The court document also states that Leckrone “consistently said she did not shoot her husband.”

Leckrone faces the evidence-tampering charge for attempting “to wash gunshot residue from her hands after consenting to have her hands swabbed for gunshot residue by law enforcement,” another court document states. If convicted on that charge, she could face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to 10 years in state prison.

A person convicted of deliberate homicide in Montana could face the death penalty if certain factors are present. Boris has not said whether those factors are present in this case, or what punishment her office will seek.

Leckrone remained in custody Saturday, Sheriff Roby Bowe confirmed via text message. Her bail was set at $500,000.

Court documents show that attorney Ann German is representing Leckrone.