Bend-area murder suspect moved from hospital to jail

A 49-year-old Bend-area woman accused of fatally shooting a neighbor last week was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon and taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where she was booked and held without bail on a murder charge, deputies said.

Joanna L. Kasner was taken to St. Charles Bend for treatment shortly after Wednesday’s fatal shooting of Valerie A. Peterson, 58, on McGrath Road. The nature of that treatment was not disclosed, but she was arrested at the hospital the next day and was with sheriff’s detectives, in law enforcement custody.

Kasner was booked into the jail around 3:30 p.m. and is scheduled to make her first court appearance on Tuesday afternoon, Sgt. William Bailey said. Monday is a government holiday, so courts are closed on that day.

A judge last Thursday signed an order sought by prosecutors requesting that the district attorney’s initial charging document, called an information, be sealed and unavailable to the public, as well as the arrest warrant and accompanying affidavit.

The only document available in the public court file as of Sunday was that order and one naming Thomas (T.J.) Spear as Kasner’s court-appointed attorney. It did not yet list the Tuesday court appearance.