The Montana man who shot and killed a German exchange student who walked into his garage pleaded not guilty to homicide charges on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Markus Kaarma, of Missoula, has been charged with deliberate homicide for the April 27 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede, who was an exchange student at a local high school. Prosecutors say Kaarma deliberately set up a trap to catch the thieves who burglarized his home twice before.
Kaarma, a 29-year-old former firefighter, claims he shot the teenager because he thought Dede was an intruder and he was protecting himself. He pleaded not guilty during his appearance in front of Montana district Judge Ed McLean, Reuters reported. He remains out on $30,000 bail and is scheduled for another court appearance on June 25.
At the center of the case is Montana's "castle doctrine" law, which states that a homeowner can use deadly force if they reasonably believe their life is in danger. Paul Ryan, Kaarma's attorney, said his client was invoking said law at the time of the shooting.
"We know with no question the individual entered the garage," Ryan said previously, according to the BBC "Kaarma didn't know who [Diren] was, his intent or whether he was armed."
A friend of Dede's who was with him the night he died, Robby Pazmino, said Dede entered Kaarma's garage in search of alcohol, according to an affidavit filed by Missoula prosecutors. The two were "garage hopping," a game they learned from local teenagers.
Kaarma found out someone was in his garage from motion sensors and a video monitor he installed after it was burglarized, Reuters reported. The homeowner collected his shotgun and fired four shots into the garage without warning, killing Dede.
Dede's body has since been taken back to Hamburg, where his family laid him to rest. His father, Celal Dede, told a German news agency that he would never have let his son study abroad if he knew about the state's law.
"I didn't think for one night that everyone here can kill somebody just because that person entered his back yard," Celal Dede said according to the BBC.
