Daughter enters not guilty plea in mother’s attempted murder

Valerie Lea Hasbrouck, 47, of Ventura, entered a not guilty plea Tuesday in response to charges she attempted to murder her mother.  No court date has been set.
    Hasbrouck was arrested Monday, Dec. 3, on the charge of Attempt to Commit Murder based on an incident at the home of her mother, Tressa Waddingham, 81, also of rural Ventura.
    Waddingham told Hancock County authorities she layed on the floor and pretended to be dead after her daughter allegedly attacked her and then ransacked her home to stage a break-in.      
    Documents filed in Hancock County District Court state the incident began Monday morning, Dec. 3, when Hasbrouck entered Waddingham’s home.  Hasbrouck made a 911 call to authorities at 1:55 p.m. and reported she had just found the house burglarized and her mother dead.  But when authorities arrived, Waddingham wasn’t dead and she identified her daughter as the person who had attacked her and then scattered and broke belongings so the home would appear to have been broken into.
    Hasbrouck made her initial appearance before a Magistrate on Tuesday, Dec. 4.  The judge ordered she be held in Hancock County Jail on $200,000 bond.   A no-contact order was also issued to keep Hasbrouck away from her mother.  If convicted, Hasbrouck faces up to 25 years in prison.