Libby man denies theft chargers

A 57-year-old Libby man pleaded not guilty Monday in district court to felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident this spring in which he allegedly stole guns, cash and an ATM card from the residence of an acquaintance.

Mark Allen Gudmundsen is charged with one count of burglary, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, along with one count of misdemeanor theft. He was arrested after being linked to use of the stolen ATM card by surveillance video at a casino in Idaho.

In an affidavit filed in support of the charges, Libby police officer Ron Buckner reported that he met in April with Jennifer Kelch, who told him that she had returned home from a week away to find that her apartment on the 1000 block of California Avenue had been burglarized. Missing items included around $230 in cash and change, a wallet containing an ATM card and a Social Security card, and two firearms.

Kelch told Buckner that when she contacted her bank to cancel the ATM card, she found that it had been used at the Kootenai River Inn casino in Bonners Ferry.

Buckner reported that he obtained surveillance footage from the ATM at the casino and recognized Gudmundsen from previous contacts. When he showed the footage to Kelch, she also identified the man in the video as Gudmundsen.

Kelch told Buckner she knew Gudmundsen because her mother had hired him to do some odd jobs. She added she had asked Gudmundsen in March to pawn two guns for her, but that he had returned them and said he couldn’t get a good price for them. The guns were the same ones that she later reported stolen in the burglary.

Gudmundsen was released from custody on his own recognizance by Judge James Wheelis after pleading not guilty to the charges, with an admonition from the judge to not have any contact with witnesses in the case.