From Staff Reports
KALKASKA — A Mancelona man pleaded no contest to second-degree murder just before his jury trial was set to begin.
Richard Gault, 54, pleaded no contest Tuesday to second-degree murder in the 2023 death of Jessica Lea Scott, 50, of Mancelona.
Gault is scheduled for sentencing next month.
On Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, at about 1 p.m., Jessica Scott called Kalkaska County Emergency Medical Services.
She was in medical distress, according to the Michigan State Police report.
At the hospital, she told the medical staff that she was the victim of domestic assault, police said. Scott later died as a result of those injuries.
State police at the Houghton Lake Post began to investigate her death as a homicide and Gault was considered a suspect.
Troopers went to Gault’s home in Cold Springs Township on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, but no one was there.
The following Monday, detectives obtained a search warrant for his residence.
Gault was there when they arrived and a state police Emergency Support Team had to be activated.
After “a brief period of negotiations,” Gault exited the home and surrendered without incident, police said.
He was arrested on unrelated charges after troopers discovered firearms in the house during the execution of the warrant.
On Nov. 1, 2023, the Kalkaska County prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Gault, and he was served the warrant in the Kalkaska County Jail.
Gault was arraigned that afternoon in 87-B District Court in Kalkaska County on one count of homicide – murder second-degree, two counts of possession of weapons by a felon, and being a habitual offender, third offense notice.
He was held on a $1-million cash bond.