Chad Bennett pleads not guilty to killing Ephrata's Lucille Moore

EPHRATA - Chad G. Bennett has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Lucille Moore.

Bennett, 25, of Ephrata, entered a plea Tuesday, according to the Grant County Clerk's Office. Bennett is accused of killing Moore, 82, on Sept. 8.

Bennett was charged with first-degree murder in Grant County Superior Court and is currently being held at the Grant County Jail, with bail set at $1 million.

Bennett was arrested by police on Nov. 25 after receiving DNA evidence, which was processed by the state Crime Lab, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald report.

Police allegedly found a cigarette butt with Bennett's DNA on it near Moore's body, according to documents filed with the court. Allegedly Bennett's blood was found on a pillow that had been placed on Moore's head and on a kitchen cabinet, court documents said.

Bennett was living in a rental property owned by Moore.

According to information in the court documents, Bennett said he went to Moore's house three times the day before her body was found. He said he visited once to pay his rent, once to pay a remaining balance on a damage deposit and once to retrieve his wallet.

Court documents say Bennett is believed to be the last person to have seen Moore alive, based upon caller identification records.

Moore was found dead on her Sunset Street home on Sept. 8. Later in the day, Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison performed an autopsy and determined that Moore's cause of death was "sharp wounds to the neck and chest", and the manner of her death was homicide.

Bennett's next scheduled court appearance is Dec. 16.