‘Golden child’

PALMER— On Thursday, June 1, Erick Almandinger was found guilty on all charges for his role in the Nov. 2016 slaying of fellow teen David Grunwald. Both were 16 at the time.

Almandinger was found guilty of Murder 1, three counts of Murder 2, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, vehicle theft and arson.

The moments leading up to the final verdict were painfully quiet. A pin drop could be heard as the full room stirred without a word, waiting for the jury to enter and finally waiting for the judge to look through their answers. Some stifled cheers came out as barely audible gasps as the judge read each count.

“Is this verdict your verdict?” Judge Gregory Heath asked each juror.

Almandinger sat quietly as each individual juror verified their verdict, one by one, some speaking with more emphasis than others.

“Yes, he’s guilty,” one man said right into the microphone.

Heath thanked the jury for their service and mentioned that the court has counseling options available should they need it.

“The community appreciates everything you’ve done in this case, how long it’s been,” Heath said.

After a little more than a day of deliberations, the 12-person jury clearly wasn’t convinced by Almandinger’s story of being “too scared” to stop Grunwald’s death at the hands of their peers. The verdict is bound to determine the course of prosecution against the remaining three teens to be tried charged in the murder. Almandinger was the only one of the four to be tried separately.

“It’s not over yet,” said lead investigator for the Grunwald homicide case, Tony Wegrzyn.

Although Almandinger was found guilty on all counts, there are still more legal steps to take before he receives a specific sentencing.

“I’ll see you in September,” said Judge, Gregory Heath.

Heath stated that he would do something “unusual in this case.” He set a status hearing regarding sentencing for Sept. 6, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. That is where Heath said the actual sentencing will occur.

The courthouse was flooded with media and scores of members of the community, filling the hallways for one of the biggest court cases in the Mat-Su Valley in recent years.

“I’m relieved justice was served,” said Christian Ward, a childhood friend of Almandinger in an interview after the verdict.

Ward’s aunt, Sara Post watched Almandinger grow up. She said she had “every emotion” when the judge finally read the verdict.

“I saw his childhood flash before my eyes,” Post said.

She said that Almandinger’s choices led him to where he was, despite his tumultuous upbringing.

“I don’t think Erick had a very good support system but he had several opportunities to do the right thing and it’s tragic that he didn’t,” she said. “It’s his own choices that got him here. I’m glad there was justice for David.”

Almandinger’s sister, Emma Rodrigues didn’t buy her younger brother’s story, either. She lives in Georgia, but provided her thoughts on the verdict in a phone interview.

“I felt that he was guilty,” Rodrigues said. “There’s consequences for your actions.”

She was even worried that her brother might get off the murder charges and was relieved that he was found guilty on all counts.

She said that she was pretty keen to his lies and those that came from their father, Rodney. She said she shook her head as she heard the lies flow. The siblings share the same father but have a different mother. She said that Rodney, Myler, Chrystal were all “abusive, neglectful and should never be around children ever again.” Rodney and Chrystal are Almandinger’s birth parents. Rodney’s mother, Myler, has always been the “matriarch” of the households before and after the divorce, Rodrigues said.

“Rodney, Chrystal and Myler aren’t the people they say they are,” Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues said that Almandinger’s mother, Chrystal was “literally like the evil stepmother” who frequently locked her in her room, chopped off her hair, and took her out of school. Myler was the most violent of the bunch.

She noted that even though they had similar upbringings, it was no excuse to duck moral responsibility. Almandinger watched the verbal, physical and psychological abuse but was never abused, she said.

“He was the ‘golden child.’ He never had consequences as a kid,” Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues’s birth name was April but she later changed it to Emma after cycling through foster care and eventually finding an actual father figure, Perry, her step-father. She noted that the rest of the Almandingers in Washington State want nothing to do with Rodney and he will never see her child.

“I feel that Rodney ruined April,” Rodrigues said.

She watched his trial several times on live streams. She scoffed at Almandinger’s attempts to act like a “gangster” or “Crip.” She said she shook her head in disgust when she found out Erick was searching for Crip-related jewelry on the online craft store Etsy. Rodrigues said her half-brother is likely to find more trouble in prison with “real gang members.”

“I remember trying to be something I wasn’t, but not like that,” Rodrigues said. Rodrigues doesn’t let their traumatic childhood excuse her brother’s actions. She said that “everyone has choice.”

“I don’t think he will ever have remorse. I think life [in prison] is the best way. He will have to sit there for the rest of his life to think about it. Erick could have gone any direction. He decided to take the bad path,” Rodrigues said.

Grunwald’s parents, Edie and Ben rejoiced over the verdict, hugging many people the day this stop along the journey to justice was over.

“Guilty on all nine charges; good verdict. One point to relief,” Edie said.