Doctor cleared to exam murder suspect

SANDPOINT — Arrangements are being made for Judith Marie Carpenter to be examined by her personal physician while awaiting trial for first-degree murder, 1st District Court records show.

Judge Barbara Buchanan signed an order on July 14 for Carpenter to be examined at Bonner General Health. Carpenter originally sought to be examined at her doctor’s office in Rathdrum, but sheriff’s officials would not allow it because it would breach security protocols.

A defense request for Carpenter to be seen by her physician at the jail was also denied. Carpenter’s medical condition is not specified in court documents, although her counsel said imaging is necessary.

Carpenter, 58, is accused of shooting Shirley Ann Ramey to death at Ramey’s Trestle Creek Road home on April 5, 2017. Carpenter denied involvement in Ramey’s slaying when she was arrested in Coeur d’Alene last year.

Carpenter invoked her right to remain silent during a preliminary hearing in Bonner County Magistrate Court last month and did not testify during the proceeding.

Carpenter was ordered to stand trial after sheriff’s deputies and Idaho State Police officials testified that a semiautomatic Glock pistol belonging to Carpenter was linked the killing of Ramey through ballistic analyses. Carpenter also possessed a lever-action rifle that was stolen from the Ramey residence, according to court documents.

It also emerged during the hearing that Carpenter spent time in state hospitals in Montana and Idaho for unspecified reasons after she was arrested for allegedly threatening a motorist with a firearm in Montana on the same day Ramey, 78, was slain.

Carpenter is being held at the Bonner County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.