BILLINGS - Bond was set at $1 million Thursday for a man accused of killing a Billings woman whose body was found in a suitcase.
Terrell Lee Spottedwolf Sr. appeared for arraignment in Yellowstone County District Court by video from the county jail and pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide. Judge Colette Davies set the high bond amount after a prosecutor described the crime as "truly horrific."
The prosecutor also told the judge that at the time of the murder Spottedwolf was wanted on a felony drug charge and he has a conviction in Kentucky for domestic violence.
A defense attorney said he wouldn't request a lower bond amount, but noted for the judge that previously filed court documents in the case incorrectly spelled the man's last name as two words and did not include the Sr. at the end of his name.
Spottedwolf, 30, is accused of killing 48-year-old Susan LaForge, whose 12-year-old son discovered her body in a suitcase at the family's home in Billings on Feb. 28. Prosecutors allege LaForge was beaten to death, and a large amount of blood was found inside the house on 12th Street West.
Police initially described the death as suspicious, but later announced the case was being investigated as a homicide.
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