Mark H. Ralstin, 38-year-old resident of rural Mullinville, made his initial appearance shortly after noon Monday in Kiowa County District Court to face charges of having murdered his wife, Bobbie Jo, last Friday evening, November 6. Bond was set at $1 million, cash or professional surety.
Presiding over the case is District Judge Daniel Love, who informed Ralstin he was being charged with first-degree murder for having “intentionally killed a human being”, namely Bobbie Jo Ralstin, who was 35 and the mother of Mark Ralstin’s three minor children. Being an off-grid felony, Ralstin would face life imprisonment and up to a $500,000 fine if convicted.
Making the bond recommendation of $1 million was Assistant Attorney General Steven Carr for the State of Kansas. Carr was flanked at the prosecution table by fellow Assistant Attorney General Travis Harrod and Kiowa County Attorney Candace Lattin. Carr will be the lead prosecutor in the case, assisted by both Harrod and Lattin. The Attorney General’s office became involved in the case at the request of Lattin.
Appearing without counsel, Ralstin filled out the paperwork requesting a court appointed attorney during the 30-minute proceeding, Judge Love pronouncing his application valid and appointing Meade criminal attorney Louis Podreborac to represent him.
Love set November 19, at 2 p.m. as Ralstin’s next appearance in District Court—a docket preliminary hearing which the judge said would serve “to see if there’s a possibility of a plea at that time.”
Carr made the $1 million bond request stating it was motivated by Ralstin’s apparent attempt to flee last Friday evening after allegedly killing his wife. Ralstin was later apprehended around 11 p.m. Friday when Reno County authorities received a call of a burglary at a rural home on the outskirts of Hutchinson. Found unarmed in the bushes outside the home, Ralstin told officers he was from Kiowa County. Authorities there informed Reno County officers Ralstin was being sought in connection with a murder at a home several miles northwest of Mullinville.
A release from the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Department stated deputies there were called to a rural home in the western part of the county around 9:30 p.m. Friday in response to a report of shots having been fired. Upon their arrival at the scene Kiowa County officers discovered the body of Bobbie Jo Ralstin.
According to Lattin, Ralstin will likely be kept at Pratt County Jail until his next court appearance. Judge Love instructed Ralstin that if he is bonded out he is to report to the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Department three times a week.
Lead prosecutor Carr has been a prosecutor nine years and with the State’s Attorney General’s office for about year. He told The Signal this will not be the first homicide case he has prosecuted.
Greensburg, KS —
