JUNCTION CITY, Kan. -- A Fort Riley soldier facing a court-martial on murder and conspiracy charges has pleaded innocent to a state charge that he plotted the crossbow killing of another soldier.
Pfc.
Timothy S. Keenan, 18, Windham, Maine, entered his plea to a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder Wednesday before Geary County Judge George Scott.
Keenan was bound over for trial on the charge last week but no trial date has been set.
In state court, he is accused of plotting the crossbow and beating death last spring of Pvt. Francis R. Badame, 18, Buffalo, N.Y.
At his Sept. 5 court-martial, Pvt. Wayne Partridge Jr., 19, Waterford, Conn., testified he shot Badame in the back with a crossbow and Keenan repeatedly beat the victim with a shovel.
Partridge testified he and Keenan killed Badame after tricking him into going with them to a remote section of the Fort Riley military base to hunt deer.
An Oct. 22 capital general court-martial hearing is scheduled for Keenan on charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder. If convicted, the military could sentence him to death.
During his court-martial, Partridge testified he and Keenan murdered Badame after he learned the man had been having an affair with his wife.
State prosecutors allege Keenan volunteered to help kill Badame because Keenan owed the victim a large sum of money, which he did not intend to repay.
Badame's body was found April 22 in a shallow grave on a secluded area of Fort Riley.
Partridge pleaded guilty to a military charge of premeditated murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
In exchange for agreeing to testify against Keenan, Fort Riley commanding Gen. Ronald L. Watts has the authority to reduce Partridge's life sentence to one of no less than 45 years.
