Prosecution works to tie together evidence linking Dominic Johnson to the Grunwald murder during the second week of trial

PALMER — The trial of Dominic Johnson wrapped up it’s second week in Palmer District Court on Thursday. Key witnesses took the stand during the week to tie together evidence linking Johnson to the murder of Palmer teen David Grunwald in 2016.

Alaska State Trooper Nathan Bucknall took the stand on Thursday to present data on phone locations on the night of Nov. 13, 2016. The location of Johnson’s phone traveled out to the Butte, back toward Wasilla, and eventually out to where Grunwald’s Ford Bronco was burned. Bucknall showed that Austin Barrett left the group and went to Devin Peterson’s house, and had located the group at the Almandinger house prior to leaving at 9 p.m. down the Old Glenn Highway.

Johnson’s attorney, Lyle Stohler, called key aspects of the evidence into question. While Johnson is located heading toward the Butte for nearly an hour, he is only located heading back toward Palmer for six minutes. Stohler also noted that Johnson was never located on Knik River Road, where Grunwald’s body was actually found.

AST Sergeant Tony Wegrzyn took the stand Thursday afternoon to detail his first interactions with Johnson and Erick Almandinger. Wegrzyn was taking over the General Investigations Unit on Nov. 16, and already knew about Grunwald’s disappearance on Nov. 13. He requested, prior to being in charge of the GIU, that the case be reassigned to his unit. Wegrzyn got a tip on Dec. 2 that persons of interest were located at the Valley Hotel, but he only knew of Johnson and Bradley Renfro’s location. He sent a text message saying he would be there in two minutes, and Johnson, Renfro, Austin Barrett, Devin Peterson, and a fifth person came out. Johnson was taken back to the trooper post where he met with his lawyer, who told Wegrzyn that Johnson would show him where Grunwald was buried. Johnson had conditions, though, that he would not give a statement and would be free to leave after locating the body, which were granted. District Attorney Roman Kalytiak joined Wegrzyn in his trooper vehicle and followed Johnson and his attorney to the Butte at 2 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2016. On the way, they passed teams of search dogs on the east side of the Knik River Bridge who were out searching for Grunwald’s body. Wegrzyn had deployed helicopters, Troopers on foot, and K-9 units to look for the body. Johnson and his attorney at the time stopped at one pull out past the Knik River Bridge just briefly before going toward a second location. There, about five miles down Knik River Road, they stopped for about 10 minutes. Snow was falling and darkness would come shortly, which Wegryzn reminded them of. Johnson then took them to the third location on mile 7.1 of Knik River Road where they got out and searched for 45 minutes. Though there were openings in the brush, Wegrzyn said that there was no definitive trail. Johnson led them back and forth over a creek and brush looking for Grunwald’s body when Wegrzyn noticed they were retracing their steps. He separated from the group by about 50 feet and found Grunwald’s body.

The Almandingers

Wegrzyn had trouble locating Erick Almandinger, who has already been found guilty of murder in the Grunwald case, following the disappearance of Grunwald, and did not meet him until Nov. 16. He told Wegrzyn that he took a cab to a party off Main Street in Anchorage, but could not identify any other landmarks. He told Wegrzyn that he spent either $60 or $120 on the trip, but he could not remember which. When Wegrzyn finally got to speak with Erick, he did not surprise him.

“He told me he knew I was there to talk about David,” Wegrzyn said.

Erick told Wegrzyn that he had not seen Grunwald in weeks when first interviewed. During the second interview, Wegrzyn came with a search warrant for Almandinger’s tablet. Erick used the tablet, though Erick’s father, Rodney, gave it to his grandmother, Myler, for her to use. She had difficulty, and so Erick primarily used it. During testimony earlier last week, Rodney said that he did not monitor Erick’s use on the tablet. Wegrzyn followed Erick to retrieve the tablet and Erick requested that he check his Snapchat prior to handing it over. Wegrzyn allowed it, so long as he did not delete anything. Wegrzyn watched Erick check messages that did not pertain to the case, and when Rodney asked him something he took his eyes away for a moment. When he looked back, Erick was deleting messages, and Wegrzyn seized the tablet at that moment.

“His hands were shaking,” Wegrzyn said.

When Wegrzyn returned with a search warrant for the Almandinger house and all of the outbuildings, he recalled a distinct smell of bleach coming from the camper, even far away from the doorway. Rodney Almandinger said he never noticed if the rug from the camper was there after Nov. 13. Rodney used the camper primarily to travel and sell his hand blown glass. He had put a tarp over the trailer and moved it to the back of the property for the winter by Nov. 13. He works in his shop with loud equipment running and the television turned up loud, and did not recall seeing Grunwald on the night of Nov. 13. He met David Evans, who had been living with at the Almandinger house. Evans disappeared for a week, breaking the contract that he had to either work or go to school to stay there. When he returned, he had an argument with Rodney in the kitchen, where Rodney said he was mad that he didn’t know if Evans was safe. He ultimately sent Erick and Evans up to speak with Myler to determine if he could stay at the house.

“She’s the oldest in the house and she’s got kind of a weak spot for kids with problems,” Rodney Almandinger said. “I kind of cried because I was kinda pulling for him, but I didn’t want to deal with the hassle anymore.”

Rodney says that he did not know what vehicle Grunwald was driving, but only left the house to let the dogs out and did not see it. He talked to Grunwald’s mother, Edie, on the night of Nov. 13, but said that he never scolded Erick on the morning of the Nov. 14, which his neighbor testified he did. Rodney thought that Erick and David had gone to a party the night of the Nov. 13. Rodney texted Erick after 10 p.m., but did not receive a response until early on the morning of the Nov. 14. When he finally did hear from Erick, he had some choice words.

“David’s mom was here. She’s pissed. I’m pissed. You guys aren’t here,” Rodney Almandinger said.

Erick and Johnson returned on Nov. 14 to change clothes, and said that was the first time he had met Johnson, who was ‘new to the group.’ Erick told Rodney that he and Johnson were heading out to look for Grunwald on Monday. Johnson stayed at the Almandinger house that weekend and Austin Barrett returned also, though he did not stay the night. Rodney said that he grows marijuana in the house for his mother’s medicinal use, and that he grows a strain for CBD and not the psychoactive effect. Rodney also claimed that he saw members of the group smoking cigarettes and vapes, but never marijuana. He said that no one in the house touched his guns, but no one else in the house hunts. He claimed that he had never seen the guns used in the murder until they were shown to him on the witness stand when he originally testified in December of 2016. Rodney struggled to recall specific names, dates, and places, and told Stohler that things were fresher in his mind in 2016. He said that the group that spent time together was much larger than the few involved in the murder, and that he did not know everyone formally, but knew most of the boys.

“I’ve met everybody but that doesn’t mean I met everybody,” Almandinger said.