DeJong enters not guilty plea

Susan DeJong, 54, entered a not guilty plea to first-degree murder in District Court in Jefferson County Thursday afternoon, April 7. Judge Paul W. Korslund accepted the plea and set a jury trial for Aug. 29 allowing one week for proceedings.

DeJong, who appeared in court with her attorney, James R. Mowbray, is accused of violently beating her husband Thomas DeJong, 52, on March 11 at their home located on Highway 136 near Gilead. He died at a Lincoln hospital a few hours later.

DeJong is being held without bond at the Jefferson County Law Enforcement Center.