1 of 4 accused in murder of Palmer teen scheduled to return to court Friday

PALMER— Dominic Johnson, one of four young men charged with the execution style murder of Valley teen David Grunwald in 2016 is scheduled to have a status hearing Friday.

Johnson, Erick Almandinger, and Bradley Renfro have all been found guilty for Grunwald’s savage beating and pistol whipping, kidnapping and subsequent murder Nov. 13, 2016.

Austin Barrett will be the fourth and final suspect to go to trial. Barrett has an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Dec. 12.

Grunwald was attacked in a trailer on the Almandinger family’s property, forced into his own Ford Bronco, and driven up Knik River Road where he was shot in the head and died. Grunwald’s Bronco was burned in Wasilla that same evening.

Almandinger and Renfro’s defense attorneys both argued that their clients were unwilling participants involving Grunwald’s death and both have pointed to others in the group as the shooter.

No shooter has been identified to date.

On Nov. 6, the Palmer Courthouse cast an order to correct a mistake, stating that the Nov. 22 court date was originally labeled as a sentencing hearing but was done so as a mistake, according to court documents. The hearing Friday will actually be a status and scheduling hearing.

Prior to that, on Nov. 4, the victims’ surviving parents, Edie and Ben Grunwald, filed a motion through the Alaska Office of Victims’ Rights (OVR), in opposition of Johnson’s attorney Lyle Stohler’s request to continue the trial to a later date, according to court documents.

Stohler stated that he retained a second expert on behalf of Johnson to “aid in sentencing.” He stated that he needed additional time to utilize the expert on Johnson’s behalf, according to court documents.

“I realize this continuance may cause a delay in sentencing until after the last trial of the four co-defendant’s is completed,” Stohler stated in his Nov. 6 affidavit of counsel.

Contact Mat-Su Valley reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com