HARDIN, Mont. — A 22-year-old Montana man has pleaded not guilty to charges that allege he beat three women with a frying pan, killing one of them.
James Isiah Brien of Hardin was arraigned in District Court Tuesday on a charge of deliberate homicide and two counts of assault with a weapon. Prosecutors say Brien beat the women on Feb. 8 in Hardin. One of the women died on Feb. 24.
A trial date has not been set.
The Billings Gazette reports prosecutors asked that Brien be held on $1 million bail because he is named in charging documents from the 2015 beating death of Jeffrey Hewitt in Billings. Hewitt’s dismembered and burned body was found on the Crow Indian Reservation.
Hewitt’s girlfriend and her brother are in prison. Brien has not been charged, but prosecutors have said more charges are expected.