PELLA, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa woman accused of fatally stabbing her husband’s girlfriend has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder.
Michelle Boat, 55, entered the plea Monday in the May 18 attack that killed Tracy Mondabough, 46, of Ottumwa, the Des Moines Register reported.
Pella police have said that Boat was recorded on camera following the victim to a Pella apartment complex before the stabbing. Police also accused Boat of abusing her estranged husband and violating a no-contact order several times in the months before the stabbing.
Boat and her husband have been married 20 years, but the two separated in March. He was dating Mondabough, court records said.
Mondabough was found slumped in a car the night of May 18, investigators said in charging documents. Officers were called to the apartment complex on reports of a fight in a nearby alley, a criminal complaint says.
A person standing outside the car where two people were tussling reported hearing one person shout “He don’t belong to you,” before leaving in a car, police said. Investigators tracked down a car matching the description to Boat’s home.
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This story has been corrected to show the victim was from Ottumwa, not Ottawa.
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