Idaho Student Pleads Innocent To Murders

A Chinese graduate student at the University of Idaho has pleaded innocent to first-degree murder in the slayings of a Moscow couple from his homeland.

Second District Judge John Bengtson on Monday set a Nov. 6 trial date for 25-year-old Wenkai Li of Bejing.

Li is charged in connection with the May 29 stabbing deaths of Ning Li and Xia Ge in their apartment.

Last month, Wyoming authorities found the young couple’s decomposing bodies in sleeping bags along a rural road.

Wenkai Li was arrested June 5 in Laramie shortly before he was scheduled to board a bus for Salt Lake City.

Public defender Michael Henegen said that, based on recently released transcripts of the police interviews following Li’s arrest, he questions how his client came to make statements to Wyoming deputies.

When first arrested, Li invoked his right to remain silent, Henegen said. Later at the station, he gave several statements.

Bengtson said if he was not satisfied Li’s statements were made voluntarily, a hearing would be conducted outside the presence of a jury to decide whether they could be used against him.

, DataTimes