Almandinger murder trial ambles into week two

PALMER— The first week of Erick Almandinger’s trial is over and the teen accused of being most directly involved with David Grunwald’s murder is set to pick up again starting Tuesday.

Several witnesses have taken to the stand and several pieces of evidence have shed some light on the multi-faceted case; but there is still a lot of deliberation to come.

Two particular witnesses — Almandinger’s father Rodney and Almandinger’s friend, David Evans — took to the stand this week, providing some character insight on the suspect. The prosecution and defense again put credence on Almandinger’s supposed associated reasons with the enduring street gang the “Crips”, but for very opposing reasons.

During day three of the trial, David Evans testified after a lengthy analysis of the camper Grunwald was pistol whipped in. Evans is the only one of the five teens allegedly involved with Grunwald’s murder who isn’t currently in custody. Evans walks free while his former friends are facing multiple charges that include murder, kidnapping and tampering with evidence.­

Kyle Pratt lives next door to the Almandinger residence. He testified about the day after Grunwald went missing, his reports to authorities after the teens were arrested, and what he saw/heard/smelled next door.

On Nov. 14, the morning following Grunwald’s disappearance, Pratt was chopping wood in his yard when he picked up “unusual smells” that seemed to be nearby. He remembered a “haze” in the air.

“It was really just a pungent smell of chemical and maybe like a plastic burning smell. There was a smoke in the air and it was just an uncommon smell,” Pratt said.

On the fourth day of trial, Palmer District Attorney, Roman J. Kalytiak asked Rodney about the alleged camper cleaning and burning following Grunwald’s disappearance. Kalytiak asked Rodney if he did any burning that day; he said no. When asked if he thought anyone did any burning that day, he recall any.

“I can’t rightfully say,” Rodney said, repeating that phrase several times during the cross examinations.

Pratt has a sauna outside and he regularly steams up in the evening. One evening, after stepping out of the sauna with a towel over his head, he saw Erick Almandinger’s father, Rodney. Pratt said that he could see Rodney clearly under the light and he heard him talking. He said that Rodney was talking with two “figures in the shadows.”

“I heard Rodney say, ‘you’re going to have to call this boy’s mother,’” Pratt said during the third day of trial.

Kalytiak asked Rodney if he had this concertation at various intervals of the evening, be it in person or over the phone.

“I don’t talk to people late at night,” Rodney said.

Kalytiak asked Rodney about his son’s truancy from school. He asked if Almandinger’s absence from school raised any concern.

“I’m not rightfully sure; what do you mean?” Rodney asked.

Rodney said that his son would sometimes miss school because he was sick or nauseous. Kalytiak asked that aside from that, did it seem like he was intentionally missing school and if so, when?

“October [2016]?” Rodney said. “Guessing.”

For a time, Almandinger was missing from both of his parents’ residences, allegedly living on his own and staying from place to place. Kalytiak asked Rodney where his son was at while “bouncing around various places.”

“I don’t know when it actually started. I can only base it on July when his mom asked if I wanted his stuff,” Rodney said.

Evans testified that he used to flash “gang signs” by “throwing up C’s” while wearing a lot of blue in the heyday of his friendship with Almandinger, with several images posted to social media-ultimately shown to the jury.

“I was young back then,” Evans said.

For a time, Evans lived with Almandinger at Rodney’s residence, sharing space with Erick. He claimed that he was moving out the night of Grunwald’s murder. The defense asked if Almandinger was upset by the sudden departure with no notice and Evans said yes. The two met while Evans was a sophomore and Almandinger was a freshman. They eventually blossomed a friendship and spent more time together.

Video games seemed to tie all sides of the Almandinger friendship together a pastime corroborated by family friends. Grunwald and Almandinger played video games together, according to Rodney. When asked, he said that Grunwald was a nice kid who was respectful. Rodney said that he used to host big LAN (local area network) parties with his son and his friends.

Aside from video games, marijuana was a major theme in the Almandinger household. When asked, Evans admitted that Rodney grew marijuana and permitted using it for he and Grunwald, along with most of Almandinger’s circle of friends.

The prosecution asked Evans if he ever saw Devin Peterson, the teen recently convicted at the federal level for his involvement in the Grunwald case, at the Almandinger residence. Evans said that that he never saw Peterson there and that Almandinger’s grandmother, Myler didn’t like him.

Kalytiak repeated his question from Evans’ initial testimony back in Dec. 2016. He asked if Almandinger was actually a Crip or just fancied himself one.

“He talked about it, but he wasn’t in it,” Evans said. “He just dressed up and flashed the signs.”

“Were you doing the same stuff as Erick?”

“… Back then, yes sir,”