New evidence causes uproar in Dominic Johnson murder case

PALMER - The most influential piece of evidence in determining whether Dominic Johnson is guilty for his role in the murder of Palmer teen David Grunwald on November 13, 2016, caused friction in Palmer Superior Court on Monday.

On Thursday, following a material witness warrant for 18-year-old Andrea Cullington, a video that had been spoken about in interviews during the investigation of the Grunwald murder finally came to light. A Snapchat post that had been mentioned, but never found, was provided by Cullington during her arraignment on Thursday. Cullington was asked about the video and began to shed tears when describing it. She logged onto her Snapchat account on Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Tony Wegrzyn’s phone. Johnson’s Attorney Lyle Stohler was outraged at the uncovering of evidence four weeks into a trial, and objected to its use. The jury did not return from lunch to hear witness testimony on Monday as a decision had to be made on the new evidence. Judge Gregory Heath admitted the evidence, but it will not be shown until Wednesday to give the defense time to prepare.

A minor who had previously testified also discovered a copy of the video and provided it to the prosecution during the lunch break on Monday. Stohler’s motion to suppress the evidence was denied. Stohler then argued that a continuance of the trial until Jan. 1 should occur with a substantial new discovery of evidence 23 days into the trial of Dominic Johnson. Investigators applied for dozens of search warrants from Snapchat that did not uncover the video. Stohler argued that by allowing the evidence to be admitted, the prosecution was attempting to show an admission of guilt, and reiterated that he believed it was grounds for a mistrial.

“Continuance is the remedy,” Stohler said.

Stohler argued that Johnson had no idea the video existed.

“It is evidence that the defendant has personal knowledge of,” District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said.

On the minor’s copy of the video, the timestamp is 5:46 p.m., on November 13, 2016, less than three hours before David Grunwald went missing. However, this would not be the only cell phone data used as evidence to be called into question by Stohler. Cullington’s copy of the video shows a timestamp of Decmeber 10, 2016. Cullington testified that she received the video while she was at Misty Johnson’s house and showed it to her then.

“I was in her home and it was a video of her son,” Cullington said.

“As hard as I can in the head just to try to hurt him, just to try to f****** hurt him,” Cullington recalled from the video. The minor who testified said that she sent the video, along with a batch of other photos and videos of the group, but mainly of her boyfriend, Bradley Renfro.

“I honestly was under the influence of something probably around that time so my memory’s kind of like faded,” the minor said.

The minor testified that she suffers memory loss, but determined that the recording took place in her shed and identified Johnson in the video. A warrant for the minor’s Snapchat records was served on Dec. 2 of 2016, and Cullington’s Snapchat was served a warrant in April of 2017, but the video had never previously come up.

“I didn’t remember until you guys said something about it,” the minor said.

Kalytiak argued that the evidence should be admitted due to the frequent social media communication already admitted as evidence in Johnson’s trial and Erick Almandinger’s trial. In the video, Johnson allegedly says something inaudible at the beginning, and surrounding voices can be heard repeating what he says.

“He’s getting other members of the group riled up,” Kalytiak said.

Stohler continued to ask for a mistrial and claimed that the state’s prosecution has made a habit out of filing evidence late. During cross-examination of Wegryzn, Stohler mentions how crucial the timeline of events is to the prosecution. Kalytiak noted that upon discovery of the video on Thursday, the defense was notified, and every defense attorney working on cases involved in the murder of David Grunwald has been given access to the lengthy discovery.

Beginning the trial on Monday, Wegrzyn testified about the timeline of events surrounding the discovery of David Grunwald’s body on December 2, 2016. Wegrzyn said that even though Erick Almandinger told him that he was at a party in Anchorage on the night of the murder, it did not dissuade Wegrzyn from maintaining an interest in Almandinger. Though both the Ruger 40 used to pistol-whip David Grunwald, and the Springfield 9mm used to fire the fatal bullet were discovered at Devin Peterson’s house, Wegrzyn attributes possession of the Ruger to Almandinger and the Springfield to Austin Barrett. Though there were discussions of using one of the teens to record conversations with others, no deals were ever struck with any of those charged in the murder. Stohler questioned why Wegrzyn seized Almandinger’s clothes but not Johnson’s once he led them to the body. Wegrzyn said that the thought had never crossed his mind once the body was found and the mission was accomplished.

Stohler called into question Wegrzyn’s use of cell phone records to deploy K-9 units to search for the body. Wegrzyn initially did not remember when he received cell phone location data from Trooper Nathan Bucknall, but Stohler connected the cell phone locations with where the dogs were deployed. Wegrzyn made sure to note the differences between active cell phone warrants that were communicated multiple times an hour from those obtained on Almandinger and Johnson’s phones after the disappearance of David Grunwald.

“The data does not eliminate the defendant from being on the other side of the river,” Kalytiak said.

Wegrzyn deployed three dogs to search on the north side of the Knik River, downstream from the bridge. Stohler mentioned that Johnson was cooperating with the investigation, but wasn’t able to take Wegrzyn and Kalytiak to the exact location where the body was located.

“I didn’t ever get the vibe that he was trying to waste our time” Wegrzyn told Stohler.

“We would have never found him without the cooperation of the person who got us there,” Stohler read from Wegrzyn’s police report.

Wegrzyn told the jury that he did not disclose the discovery of David Grunwald’s body to anyone except for his parents on the night the body was discovered to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

It was at the point of that revelation that the trial began to erupt. Stohler began questioning Wegrzyn’s methods of interviewing witnesses, and at one point, each attorney called the other a ‘liar.’

“You told her she’s drowning and you’re going to throw her a lifeline,” Stohler recalled from Wegrzyn’s interview of Misty Johnson. Stohler then provided a second example claiming that Wegrzyn threatened Sammy Larue.

“We made him aware of the fact that we knew about his case,” Wegrzyn attempted to correct Stohler.

Stohler again questioned Wegrzyn’s interviewing and claimed he threatened Larue.

“How about when you tell them you’re going to make him a personal project?” Stohler asked.

Much deliberation was had over the exact location of cell phone tower records, where they extended to and where the cell phones actually were.

Stohler had Wegrzyn write all of the cell phone locations from Johnson on November 13, 2016 on a large pad of paper. Johnson’s phone is located at 13 different points from 9:05 p.m., to 9:51 p.m. Stohler argued that the cell phone data obtained directly influenced the location of the searches, but Wegrzyn countered and said that it was but one small part of a much larger equation. Between 9:05 p.m., and 9:35 p.m., no locations were given. For the first time in 23 days of trial, the prosecution provided a justification for the missing half-hour of cell phone data.

“To my understanding that’s when the phone was turned off,” Wegrzyn said.