BOND COUNTY — Bail has been set at $500,000 cash for a former youth director at a Mt. Vernon church charged in Bond County with the murder of her 70-year-old boyfriend in Sorento.

Wendy Denzler, 41, is accused of shooting Richard R. Blake on June 11. Denzler is charged in Bond County court with five counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and a count of obstructing justice.

Denzler, who had apparently moved to Sorento recently, had been the youth director at West Salem Trinity United Methodist in Mt. Vernon.

According to the Bond County Sheriff’s Office, they received a late morning report on Tuesday, June 11, of a suicide involving a firearm. Following a three-day investigation into the reported suicide, Denzler was taken into custody

Prosecutors alleged Denzler shot Blake in the head with a handgun and then lied to investigating deputies when she told them Blake had committed suicide.

The judge set Denzler’s bail at $500,000 cash, meaning 10% does not apply and the entire half-million dollars would have to be posted for her to be released from the Bond County Jail.

She’s next scheduled to appear in court July 11 for a preliminary hearing and first appearance with her court-appointed counsel.