The defendant in a triple killing on southeast Montana's Crow Reservation has entered a not guilty plea to a grand jury indictment charging him with three counts of first-degree murder.

Clad in an off-white prison uniform and restrained by handcuffs and leg shackles, 22-year-old Sheldon Bernard Chase said little during his Monday arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby in Billings.

Chase waived his right to have the two-page indictment read to him, but his court-appointed attorney, David Merchant, reserved the right to request a detention hearing at a later date.

Chase is charged with killing his grandmother, cousin and cousin's boyfriend Oct. 4 at the family's home near Lodge Grass.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $250,000 fine and five years' supervised release.

Associated Press

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