Alleged La. Klan leader pleads not guilty in death

The alleged leader of a Ku Klux Klan group pleaded not guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the shooting death of an Oklahoma woman who police said was killed during an initiation at a remote campsite in southern Louisiana.

Raymond Foster, 44, did not say anything during the brief hearing. His court-appointed defense attorney, Kevin Linder, entered the plea and bond was not set for Foster, who would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

Linder told reporters he would likely ask for a bond hearing soon.

A grand jury indicted Foster and three other suspected Klan members last month in the death of 43-year-old Cynthia Lynch of Tulsa, Okla.

Lynch has been described by her former lawyer as a lonely and troubled woman who might have sought a sense of belonging with the group. She was recruited over the Internet to join a small Klan faction referred to as the Sons of Dixie or the Dixie Brotherhood, authorities said. She is believed to have been shot after she got into a disagreement with Foster and asked to leave the initiation site, authorities said.

Seven people were arrested after the Nov. 9 slaying. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain said the investigation began after two of the suspects went to a convenience store and asked a clerk how to remove blood from clothing. The clerk notified authorities.