Man pleads not guilty in Sky Dancer Casino hotel killing
A North Dakota man accused of killing a woman inside a hotel room at Sky Dancer Casino & Resort has pleaded not guilty, according to Casino.org. Rigoberto Mendez Morales, 58, is charged with second-degree murder in Indian country in the death of a Native woman enrolled with the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
According to Casino.org, deputies with the Rolette County Sheriff’s Office responded to the casino in Belcourt on Jan. 10 following a 911 call. Investigators said surveillance video showed Mendez Morales and the woman entering the room shortly after midnight, with no one else entering or exiting before officers arrived. Authorities allege the woman was stabbed to death. Mendez Morales told investigators he had no memory of the incident and awoke to find the woman unresponsive. A federal magistrate ordered him held in custody pending a jury trial scheduled for April 14.
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