NEW ROCKFORD, N.D. (AP) - A man accused of hitting an 83-year-old farmer over the head and strangling him has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Leslie Olafson, 58, is accused of killing Selmer Veen, 83, in Veen's home in New Rockford, the town where Olafson also lived. Veen's body was found in his garage July 10. That night, Olafson was seriously injured after his car rolled over on a gravel road about 35 miles away.

He appeared in court Friday in a wheelchair. The electric chair lift on the wooden staircase of the 107-year-old Eddy County Courthouse malfunctioned briefly while he was taken to an upper floor for his arraignment.

Judge John Greenwood set a tentative trial date of Sept. 18.

Olafson's court-appointed attorney, Lori Weisz of Hurdsfield, asked for a second psychiatric evaluation. Greenwood told her to submit the request in writing.

Olson remained hospitalized for six months after Veen's death. Eddy County prosecutor Travis Peterson ordered his arrest in December. Court records show he had a mental evaluation earlier, at the request of his attorney.

In December, Olafson was transferred to the Lake Region Correctional Center in Devils Lake, which is the jail for Eddy County and five others. He stays in the juvenile wing because of his medical problems, Weisz said.

Family and friends are looking into alternatives for medical treatment centers, she said.

In court Friday, Peterson said Olafson is accused of killing Veen by "blunt force injuries to his head," and by "strangulation." Neighbors said Olafson had tried to pressure Veen to buy a golf club from him.

A neighbor couple who monitored Veen's medical alert device rushed over to find him dying on the floor of his garage.

When asked Friday how he would plead, Olafson said quietly but firmly, "Not guilty."

Weisz asked that the judge approve another psychiatric evaluation of Olafson before trial, "on the basis that the defendant is entitled to a second opinion."

Peterson said he found nothing in the law that gives Olafson the right to a second court-paid psychiatric evaluation "just because (Weisz) does not agree with the evaluation" that she had requested earlier.

Judge Greenwood told Weisz to put the request in writing within two weeks and told Peterson to respond within a week later.