EVERETT — An Everett woman denied responsibility Monday for a murder detectives say she has tried to pin on others.
Tammie Jo Peterson, 54, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the May 24 stabbing death of Deborah A. Jeanneret.
She pleaded not guilty Monday during a brief appearance in Snohomish County Superior Court
The defendant told the judge that her true name is Tammie Lewis. Prosecutors in court papers say she is known by at least five names and has felony convictions for forgery and fraud.
Bail was maintained at $1 million.
Jeanneret’s body was found in a south Everett apartment she shared with a former boyfriend, and the defendant, who had moved in about a week earlier.
Detectives determined the defendant had been using the victim’s credit cards and phone after the killing. When confronted, the woman attempted to implicate others, first a former boyfriend, then the man who shared the apartment where the victim’s body was discovered.
The murder charge was filed after one of her acquaintances led investigators to a knife the defendant allegedly threw in the Snohomish River.
The knife was missing the tip. A piece of metal, believed to be a knife tip, was recovered during the autopsy on Jeanneret.
Numerous items of potential evidence now are undergoing tests and review at the state crime lab, prosecutors say.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews.
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