Murder Suspect Pleads Innocent

A teenager accused of suffocating his sister and her friend pleaded innocent Friday to two counts of first-degree murder.

The trial for Daniel Betournay, 15, of College Place is scheduled to begin April 3 for the deaths of his sister, April, and her friend, Beth Garbe, both 14. A judge ruled Feb. 1 that Betournay be tried as an adult.

Betournay confessed to police that he tied the two girls’ wrists and ankles with duct tape and then suffocated them by putting plastic bags over their heads.

Betournay is being held at the Walla Walla County Jail under a suicide watch, officials said.