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MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man who is a suspect in a death in the eastern part of the state earlier this month is also a suspect in a stabbing and a homicide in Missoula earlier this week, the Missoula County attorney said Wednesday.
Kirsten Pabst identified Scott Austin Price, 37, a transient from Billings and Sarah Rae McKnight, 32, of Trout Creek as the "persons of interest" in a stabbing in a grocery store parking lot and a homicide at a nearby Missoula motel.
Both were arrested in Idaho on Tuesday.
An officer at the Kootenai County jail in Coeur d'Alene said he did not know if Price and McKnight had attorneys.
Police in Miles City have said Price is a suspect in the Dec. 14 death of Ed Martin, 78. Martin's body was found in his camper. A warrant was issued last Friday charging Price with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault for an attack on Helen Martin on the same day. No charges have been filed in Ed Martin's death.
Helen Martin identified Price as her attacker, according to court records supporting the arrest warrant.
Pabst said she may have an announcement regarding charges in the Missoula cases as early as Thursday morning.
A 68-year-old woman was stabbed in a grocery store parking lot just before noon on Monday. While police were investigating that attack, officers received a call that a woman had been killed at a nearby motel. The coroner's office identified the slain woman as Lonette Keehner of Missoula.
The attackers left the grocery store in a dark blue car. Police found the car parked near the motel where Keehner was killed. Keehner's car was missing. It was not recovered when Price and McKnight were arrested in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
Officials have not released Keehner's cause of death, but officers have said a knife was involved.
KECI-TV reports investigating officers used metal detectors to find a knife in the snow in front of a Missoula residence on Wednesday. It was being taken to the state crime lab for testing.
Price has previous convictions for manufacturing drugs, forgery and theft, state records said.
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