Suspects in murder of Sherry Arnold, Montana teacher, plead not guilty
(CBS/AP) BILLINGS, Mont. - The two suspects in the killing of Montana teacher Sherry Arnold have pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted kidnapping.
Forty-eight-year-old Lester Van Waters Jr. and 23-year-old Michael Spell were arraigned Tuesday on new charges filed since the March discovery of Arnold's body in a shallow grave in North Dakota.
The two Colorado men face the death penalty if convicted on charges of deliberate homicide.
State District Judge Richard Simonton vacated trials for the two men originally set for July. They were not immediately rescheduled.
Arnold disappeared Jan. 7 while on a morning jog in Sidney, Mont., a boom town in the Bakken oil field.
Court documents indicate that Spell has blamed Waters for choking Arnold to death; Waters allegedly said Spell did it.