Ever since the May arrest of Michael Woodard in the killing of his ex-wife, Kelly Dube-Woodard, the silence has been deafening. People in Superior – where both the victim and the accused grew up – wondered what was going on. Today, as the Missoulian’s Kim Briggeman reports, they found out:
Michael Woodard quietly pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide Wednesday morning for killing his ex-wife in May.
The plea in Mineral County District Court came after prosecutor Marcia Boris and Woodard’s attorney, Lance Jasper of Superior [in photo, with Woodard], hammered out an unusual pre-arraignment agreement in order to keep the case from going to trial.
The 52-year-old Woodard replied “yes” when District Court Judge Karen Townsend asked if he was agreeable to the terms of a 55-year prison sentence. Townsend set sentencing for Oct. 26.
Woodard, of Elko, Nev., admitted to killing Kelly Dube-Woodard on a visit to his hometown of Superior in late May. Her strangled body was found in a remote wooded area outside of town on May 27, three days after she was reported missing.
Gwen Florio
(Image: Michael Gallacher/Missoulian)