Trial dates set for this fall in Plummer murder from April

ST. MARIES — A doctor has completed a competency examination for a 28-year-old North Idaho woman charged with murdering her uncle, deciding she understands the charges against her and can assist in her own defense.

Melisa R. Bates, who is accused of killing her uncle in May just south of St. Maries, is now scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 22 in St. Maries before Magistrate Patrick McFadden.

Bates was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 25, but her defense lawyer, William Butler, asked for and received more time to prepare.

McFadden will decide at the conclusion of the hearing whether prosecutors have put forward enough evidence to show she probably did do the killing.

Bates is charged with first-degree murder and is being held at the Benawah County jail.

According to court documents, Dr. Daniel Hayes, of Hayden Lake, conducted the evaluation of Bates’ fitness to proceed.

Benewah County Prosecutor Douglas Payne said the standard of fitness is low in the state. It was only necessary to show she could both understand the charge against her and help her lawyer in her defense.

Bates is accused of killing Robert D. Marek, 43, at his home eight miles south of St. Maries along Highway 3.

Bates had been staying with Marek. Payne has said Marek was found shot with a handgun and beaten with a metal rod. He also said there was an attempt to dispose of his body by burning it.

In a separate Benewah County murder case, trial dates now have been set for two codefendants from the Plummer stabbing death in April of 37-year-old Antowyn D. Swiney, of Spokane.

Jody A. Miller, 41, now is scheduled for trial on Oct. 3 and Irael S. Kennedy, 21, is scheduled for Oct. 31., both in front of 1st District Court Judge Fred Gibler.

Two other defendants in that case, Stephen R. Milton and Kelly A. Miller, Jody Miller’s wife, have pleaded guilty to the charge of accessory to a felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, Payne. They have not been sentenced.

Swiney died of multiple stab wounds in a home in Coeur d’Alene tribal housing in the south portion of Plummer. Swiney had been staying with a girlfriend who owns the home. The girlfriend, Angelita Ashby, was an ex-girlfriend of Jody Miller’s.