Two facing murder charges make appearance in court

PALMER — Bradley Renfro and Austin Barrett appeared in Palmer Superior Court for a pre-trial conference on Thursday

Renfro and Barrett are among four charged in the death of Palmer teen David Grunwald, who was murdered on the night of Nov. 13, 2016. The two teens face five charges: one count of Murder 1, three of Murder 2, and Kidnapping.

A third suspect, Dominic Johnson, is scheduled to go to trial in September. The first of the four, Erick Almandinger, was found guilty on one charge of first-degree murder, three charges of second-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping, assault, vehicle theft and arson, in late May.

Craig Howard will be defending Austin Barrett, 19, and Chris Provost will represent Bradley Renfro, 17, when their trial begins with three days of evidentiary hearings starting Dec. 10 in Palmer. There has been no motion filed for severance thus far, and the pair is currently scheduled to be tried together.

“I didn’t see a valid basis for severance...I’m not going to be filing a motion of severance,” Howard said in the courtroom.

Judge Gregory Heath determined that if there were to be a severance motion, it occur within 60 days. The jury selection process will begin on between the end of February and the beginning of March.

“It’s certainly under serious consideration,” said Provost of a possible severance motion.

The deadline for filing motions is different for each side of the case, due to the amount of time each side has had to deal with the case. Howard and Provost, representing the two teens, have until Oc. 5 to file motions.

“We will be filing a motion of more complexity and substance,” Provost said.

Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak will have until Nov. 30 to file any motions

“It wouldn’t be realistic for us to be working late into the night during the trial responding to motions that could have been filed years ago,” Kalytiak said.

Judge Heath is scheduled to retire at the end of 2018, but plans to hear the case past his expected retirement date.

“I think it makes sense. Instead of transferring it to a different judge who’s not familiar with the case and his previous rulings, I think it makes a lot of sense for him to continue,” Kalytiak said. “I think it’s up to the Judge.”

Barrett, Renfro, Johnson and Almandinger were all accused of taking part in the beating, kidnapping and murder of Grunwald Nov. 13, 2016. For more on the Grunwald murder case, including past coverage, see frontiersman.com.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.