Almandinger neighbor testifies

PALMER— The week is half over and Erick Almandinger’s murder has a lot more ground to cover, with sessions expected to go into next week.

Almandinger is the first of four teens to go to trial for the murder of fellow teen, David Grunwald back in November 2016. On Wednesday, May 16, the jury got to see the infamous trailer where Grunwald’s was allegedly beat to a pulp before getting shot in the head at a remote location in the Butte.

Wednesday’s session picked up after several testimonies, including an account by David Grunwald’s parents, Edie and Ben. Ben’s testimony got particularly emotional while talking about David’s aviation experiences. Midway through his answer, an interruption came from the defense and the grieving father angrily glared at the defense’s table, pointed his fingers at them and his voice elevated for a moment while finishing his sentence.

Kyle Pratt’s 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.

At first, he didn’t think too much about it, but when he found out Almandinger was arrested, he racked his brain and contacted the authorities to try to help them best he could with what he could recall.

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.

When asked if he was sure it was Rodney’s voice, Pratt said that he was sure it was due to the man’s “unmistakable voice.” Pratt also said that he got a pretty good look at Rodney since he was under a light.

Pratt shares a property line with Rodney. He said that he didn’t his son and his friend’s outside very much and when he did, they were usually going to and from the trailer and the home basement.

Jamie Nadie, a forensic scientist with the Alaska state crime lab testified on the witness stand, relating her team’s examination of the trailer taken from the Almandinger property. Almandinger and his friends spent most of their time in the trailer and that is where the youths allegedly smoked marijuana with Grunwald before pistol-whipping him.

Using two different tests: Hemo-sticks and Blue Star, Nadie and her team found several traces of blood in the trailer bathroom, testing “presumptive positive” meaning the results are very likely blood, but further DNA testing is required to verify. Nadie also noted that she and her team all picked up the smell of cleaning supplies.

The jurors got a chance to look at the trailer in the court’s rear parking lot after hearing Nadie and Pratt’s related testimonies.

More details to follow.