GUILTY MT - RaeLynn Charlo, 29, fatally shot, Lake County, 18 Nov 2014

Adrian McElderry, 32, allegedly shot and killed Raelynn Charlo early Tuesday morning. McElderry is currently being held in the Lake County Detention Facility without bond.

According to Lake County Undersheriff Dan Yonkin, dispatch received a call shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday about a woman who had apparently committed suicide by shooting herself.

When police officers arrived on scene, however, the evidence did not match what McElderry had told them, according to Yonkin. McElderry, who told police he was Charlo’s husband, was taken into custody on an unrelated charge. He was charged with deliberate homicide on Wednesday evening.

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The alleged murder occurred at the couple’s home on First Street in Charlo. Inconsistent evidence, along with inconsistent statements McElderry made raised authority’s suspicions...

McElderry was arraigned Nov. 20 before Lake County Justice Court Judge Joey Jayne and held without bail.

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A Lake County man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he shot and killed his wife and then tried to cover up the crime by saying she'd committed suicide.

An attorney for 32-year-old Adrian McElderry entered the not guilty plea in state District Court in Polson on Thursday...

District Judge Kim Christopher set a March 9 trial. McElderry remains in custody at the Lake County Jail.

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Investigators never bought Adrian McElderry’s story that his bride of eight months, who once worked for a suicide prevention program, had shot herself a year ago. Now McElderry has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder of 29-year-old RaeLynn Charlo...

Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher said that, among other things, the plea agreement would save Charlo’s family from being exposed to what he termed “gruesome” autopsy photos at a trial.

The Lake County coroner determined Charlo had been shot through the eyes, and ruled her death a homicide.

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