PORTLAND (AP) – A Portland woman has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband with a butcher knife.

Forty-nine-year-old Laureen Rugen entered her plea Tuesday in Cumberland County Superior Court. She is charged with fatally stabbing her husband, 61-year-old Chris Rugen, at their Portland home on April 8.

Rugen told police she stabbed her husband after he came at her. Her attorney says she was a victim of domestic abuse. She is being held without bail. Her trial is scheduled to begin in January.