Trial date set for North Fork murder defendant

BASS LAKE — Exactly one year to the day that Mary O’Keefe was arrested for the murder of North Fork resident Bonnie Hale, she will stand trial on the charges.

The trial will start on Dec. 18 in Bass Lake Superior Court before Judge Charles Weiland, with a pre-trial conference set for Dec. 14.

O’Keefe, 65, of North Fork, has been in custody since her arrest on Dec. 18, 2016, charged with first degree murder with an elder abuse enhancement. She pled not guilty in Bass Lake Superior Court on Dec. 20, 2016.

After three psychological evaluations by three different doctors, O’Keefe has been found competent to assist her attorney with her defense, and will face a court trial before a judge with no jury empaneled.

An autopsy showed that Bonnie Hale died of asphyxiation as a result of blunt force trauma to the throat. She was 76 years old when she was killed.

O’Keefe remains behind bars on a $1 million bond.