Judge won’t lower bond for man charged with killing wife

MINOT, N.D. — A North Central District Court judge has denied a defense request to lower bond for a Minot man charged with fatally shooting his wife.

Erik Rod’s attorney, Patrick Waters, told Judge Gary Lee during Wednesday’s court proceeding that the shooting was an accident and it was not “premeditated” or “done in cold blood,” the Minot Daily News reported. The prosecution has argued that the shooting was not accidental.

The incident was originally investigated by Minot police May 21 as the accidental discharge of a firearm. Connie Rod died five days later at the hospital. Erik Rod was arrested in August and charged with felony murder and felony reckless endangerment in his wife’s death.

Rod is being held on $250,000 bond at the Ward County Jail. Waters had asked the judge to lower the bond to either $100,000 cash or 10% of $250,000 with GPS monitoring, Waters said Erik Rod is a military veteran with no prior criminal record and has lived in Minot for 10 years.

Lee said he believes the current bond is already on the low end.

Connie Rod’s obituary indicated she was a licensed family therapist and chemical dependency counselor and had worked most recently at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch.