Troy woman accused of attempted theft

A Troy woman facing several charges was arraigned in Lincoln County District Court on Monday.

Elizabeth Kathline Williams, 29, pleaded not guilty to amended charges of felony attempted theft as well as several misdemeanors, including forgery, criminal trespass to vehicles, theft and violating a protection order.

Williams had appeared in court in September in front of District Court Judge Matt Cuffe, but he was replaced by retired Missoula County Judge Karen Townsend after a request by Williams’ attorney, public defender Keenan Gallagher.

Williams sought to have her bail reduced at the September hearing but county prosecutors were not in favor of the request. After Townsend replaced Cuffe and Lincoln County Attorney Marcia Boris amended the complaint, another bail hearing is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24.

Williams remains lodged in the county Detention Center on $25,000 bond.

Williams was described by Boris at the September hearing as a one-woman crime wave in Troy since April.

“I believe her bond is appropriate,” Boris said.

Williams, who appeared on video from the county jail at the hearing last month, was questioned by her public defender Scott B. Johnson and Boris. Johnson was appearing on behalf of Keenan Gallagher, who was out of town.

When questioned by Johnson, Williams said she would be back to work as a cook at a restaurant in Troy as soon as she was able to post bail.

Williams said she works 18 to 24 hours per week at R Place, making about $250 to $300 per week. She also said she was renting an apartment in Libby at $200 per month and had three children. Williams said her mother takes care of her two older children and her husband has the youngest child.

“My boyfriend and I each have cars and my husband lives out of town, toward the Yaak,” Williams said. “My husband and I have restraining orders against each other.”

Williams said she was planning on attending classes for nursing at the Flathead Valley Community College’s Libby campus in October.

When Boris asked Williams about an active arrest warrant for her in West Virginia, she said it was her sister’s issue.

“My sister used my ID to get a job in West Virginia, but I was never there,” Williams testified. “I’m paying off the costs, but that’s it.”

Johnson said her children depend on her and “it seems the West Virginia matter is being resolved. I haven’t seen these new allegations yet.”

Boris then questioned Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Fisher about the current charges and Williams’ history in West Virginia.

“She (Williams) has an active warrant in West Virginia for financial exploitation of an elder,” Fisher said. “Here, there were several reports of stolen checks and compromised bank information. In August I was notified that a bad check case was coming from Troy by the Troy Police Department. A checkbook had been stolen from a car and six checks had been written.

According to charging documents, Fisher wrote that he received a call from dispatch on April 27 about a possible theft. The alleged victim said his check book was stolen and several checks had been written which caused issues with his account. The man retrieved copies of checks that were allegedly forged from his account.

The checks were written to Elizabeth Williams and Riley Malone. Fisher wrote in his report that the forged checks appeared to spell the alleged victim’s name incorrectly. The man said his girlfriend confronted Williams about the checks, but she denied it.

Fisher reported there were 17 forged checks for a total of $1,370, $365 written to Williams and $1,005 to Malone.

In May, Fisher spoke to Malone about the checks. Malone said Williams had access to his banking information. Fisher also told Malone his name was attached to a fraud report for an attempted money transfer from Williams’ father-in-law.

After explaining more details to Malone, Fisher wrote that he appeared to be in a shocked state and said he had nothing to do with either case.