Aug 21, 2007 10:24 am US/Central
Montrose Murder Suspect Held On $1M Bail
Buffalo, Minn. (AP) ―
A Louisiana man was being held Tuesday on $1 million bail in the killing of Ruth Ouverson at her home near Montrose.
Judge Kathleen Mottl said Jeremy Brooks, 27, will have an attorney who could argue for a lower bail at his next hearing, which is set for Aug. 28.
Wright County Attorney Tom Kelly asked for the million-dollar bail because Brooks and his alleged accomplice Coty Martinez, 28, were wanted in Louisiana.
"We need to keep him behind bars," Kelly told Mottl at the hearing on Monday.
Mottl asked Brooks if he considered himself a flight risk or a danger to the public.
"I don't agree," Brooks replied. "I have no prior arrests and no prior anything. ... I'd like an attorney present."
Brooks was taken to the Wright County jail in Buffalo on Friday evening after he was found hiding in a wheat field near Drake, N.D.
Martinez was arrested Aug. 14 and was also being held in the Buffalo jail. She is charged with helping Brooks avoid arrest in Ouverson's death. Her body was found Aug. 4.
Brooks and Martinez also are charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in Slidell, La., and are suspects in two killings in Louisville, Ky.
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