MISSOULA, Mont. - Attorneys for a man accused of stabbing his roommate to death and dumping the body in the Clark Fork River have asked a judge to suppress "involuntary" statements their client made during a police interview.

Cyril K. Richard II is charged with murder and tampering with evidence in the Feb. 21 fatal stabbing of 31-year-old Michael J. Meadows of Jackson, Wyo.

After his arrest, the 23-year-old Richard was hospitalized with knife wounds and a broken arm, and was still heavily medicated during an interview with police later that morning, according to a brief filed by attorney Milt Datsopoulos.

"Richard was interrogated without an attorney by two detectives. During the questioning he was in a hospital gown, was still drunk and under the influence of narcotic pain medications," Datsopoulos wrote. "Despite Richard's obviously compromised mental and physical condition, the detectives interrogated him for approximately five hours without an attorney present. The statements that Richard made to detectives were not voluntary, and should be suppressed."

Deputy Missoula County Attorney Andrew Paul said he would oppose the motion, but is waiting on the complete results of a psychiatric evaluation before he files a response.

Prosecutors say Richard stabbed Meadows in the abdomen during an argument in his apartment, wrapped his body in a blanket and dumped it off a bridge into the river west of Missoula. Richard has pleaded not guilty to the charges.