BOZEMAN, Mont.-
A defendant accused of shooting a Bozeman man and fleeing the city has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.
Christopher Wagner, 33, entered the plea Wednesday in District Court. Judge John Brown ordered Wagner held on $750,000 bail.
Michael Peters, 33, of Bozeman, who was shot on Jan. 17, attended Wagner’s court hearing with his attorney, Chuck Watson.
“It was a pleasure to see him in shackles. I look forward to justice being served in this matter,” Peters said after the hearing. “I just hope he spends many years behind bars because he’s a danger to this world.”
Court records said Peters was driving away from his house in a pickup truck on that January day when a man stopped him, pointed a handgun at him and tried to get into the truck.
In response, Peters pulled a handgun from his pocket and fired three shots at the man, hitting him in the chest. The man then shot back three times, hitting Peters in the chest, and ran into the woods.
Wagner was arrested eight days later in Greybull, Wyo.
Law enforcement officers in Mineral County, Colo., said Wagner also faces charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault and domestic violence stemming from the October 2005 beating of a woman. Wagner escaped from house arrest before he could be tried on those charges.
Peters was hospitalized for several days after the shooting. He has not been charged. He told police the man attacked him over his ex-girlfriend, the same woman Wagner is accused of beating.
