Kimble enters not guilty pleas in assisted suicide case

The Sidney woman accused of assisting in her husband’s suicide and then concealing his body pled not guilty in Cheyenne County District court on Tuesday.

Deann Kimble, 53, was arraigned on one count of assisting suicide and one count of concealing human skeletal remains, both class four felonies. Kimble could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense.

There is no mandatory minimum sentence for these charges.

Law enforcement reportedly found Russell Kimble’s body at the igloo storage units near the old Sioux Army Depot on March 26, after receiving a tip from a citizen informant. Deann Kimble was questioned and subsequently arrested on the same day. Kimble allegedly informed investigators that on March 22 her husband shot himself in the face with her child sized shotgun inside the igloo where they lived, while she sat outside in her van.

Deann Kimble allegedly told law enforcement that after she discovered her husband was dead, she hooked his body to her van with a cargo strap and towed it down the road a short distance from the igloo. She then hid the body using gravel, dirt and firewood, according to Kimble’s booking affidavit.

The body was located a couple of hundred yards from the storage unit, said Cheyenne County Sheriff John Jenson.

Deann and Russell Kimble had entered into an agreement before their marriage with some unusual terms, according to the affidavit. This agreement forbade Deann Kimble from intervening when her husband decided to kill himself or to hold any sort of service or burial after his death. Deann Kimble also reportedly agreed to deal with any legal backlash that Russell Kimble’s suicide and unreported death might cause.

Even though Russell Kimble never saw a doctor, both he and his wife believed him to be very ill with emphysema and failing kidneys at the time of his death.

On Tuesday, defense attorney William Madelung requested a bond reduction for his client from the court. He claimed that Kimble, who is still in custody, could not produce the required 10 percent of the current $10,000 bond.

“Mrs. Kimble is 53 years old, she has a completely clean record,” Madelung said.

Madelung informed the court that Kimble was under psychological care at the moment and he believed that she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

“This is not a situation where the public at large is in danger,” Madelung said.

The circumstances of the crimes with which Kimble is charged are unlikely to occur again, he added.

“These are rather unique circumstances,” Madelung said.

He added that he hadn’t spoken to anyone who’d ever worked on a case quite like this one.

Kimble had strong ties to the local community, Madelung said. He stressed that his client was not a flight risk. Kimble had a history of good works in the community including participating in foster care and adoption, he pointed out.

Cheyenne County attorney Paul Schaub, representing the state, asked the court to consider the serious nature of the offenses with which Kimble was charged.

“I’m not so sure about the ties to the community,” he added.

District court judge Derek Weimer denied the defense’s request for a bond reduction and set a hearing to determine a trial date for April 18 at 9 a.m. The court currently plans to try the case some time in May.