ELKO, Nev. — Sitting in the witness chair, a woman accused of killing her ranch hand to reap a $300,000 insurance windfall denied any role in his death.
"I did not," Linda Fields responded with a steady voice when defense attorney Brian Johnson asked if she had encouraged anyone to kill Jeromir "Jerry" Palensky.
His body was discovered in the Jordan River in Salt Lake County in January 2004, weeks after he was killed.
Investigators claim Fields killed Palensky, 61, about five miles east of Elko, then dumped his body in Utah. No murder weapon has been found.
Fields said she helped Palensky with his debts and other financial matters while he was in prison and gave him a job when he was released.
She said she last saw Palensky on Dec. 18, 2003, during morning feeding of the cattle. Fields said she learned about his death when her husband, Vern Fields, told her the body was found in Utah.
Elko District Attorney Gary Woodbury questioned Fields for about two hours Thursday, asking her about obtaining power of attorney over Palensky's affairs in January 2002.
Fields was to receive $5,000 in exchange for helping him with his finances. She said an attorney had advised Palensky to make a contract with her.
Fields said she never expected to receive money because Palensky didn't have any.
Woodbury asked why she wrote, "Have you been drinking?" at the bottom of the contract.
Fields replied that Palensky was known to drink and she wanted him to acknowledge the agreement.
It was a "written contract, and you write things down," she said in Elko County District Court.
When asked about her own finances, Fields said she and her husband were not having difficulties.
"You filed bankruptcy three times," Woodbury countered. "That's not financial difficulty?"
"No," Fields answered, explaining that the bankruptcy filings gave the couple time to pay debts.