Missoula woman pleads not guilty to killing her 2 children

MISSOULA (AP) — A western Montana woman pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of deliberate homicide alleging that she killed her young children last month by cutting their throats.

Leannah J. Gardipe, 34, of Missoula appeared in District Court with her defense attorney, Benjamin Darrow. He did not request a hearing to modify Gardipe's $10 million bail, the Missoulian reported.

The court has already ordered a mental health evaluation for Gardipe.

Gardipe's mother first reported the Nov. 19 killings after Gardipe called her mother to say she had "saved her babies," court records said. The victims were a 3-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, NBC Montana reported.

Gardipe also called 911. She told dispatchers the stabbing happened that morning in her bedroom, and that "(she) was supposed to die" that day.

Detectives found a note in the house that said, "it was the only way that we all wouldn't burn, now I'm the only one of us that will," court records said.

The next hearing in the case is set for Feb. 8 before District Court Judge Robert Deschamps.