Updated | 11:12 a.m. Wednesday
A group of Mat-Su teenagers, ranging from 16 to 19 years of age, were arraigned Tuesday in state Superior Court in Palmer, in relation to the kidnapping and murder case of another Valley teen, David Grunwald.
All five were charged as adults.
The five made their first court appearance Tuesday in Palmer.
Various attorneys for the five teens entered not guilty pleas, while Judge Kari Kristiansen set pre-trial and trial dates.
No bail was set for four of the defendants. Those four — Erick Almandinger, Bradley Renfro, Dominic Johnson, all 16-years-old, and Austin Barrett, 19 — are charged with six counts of first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping and hindering prosecution, among other charges.
They will be tried together. The fifth teen, Devin Peterson, 18, was indicted separately. Peterson is charged with three counts of evidence tampering, and hindering prosecution, and will be tried alone. Peterson’s bail was set at $100,000.
The case has sobered many residents of the rural Matanuska Valley. In November, high school student David Grunwald, 16, was reported missing.
His body was located Dec. 2 in woods along the Knik River. He had been shot to death, a medical examiner’s report confirmed, but before that he was badly beaten.
Almandinger was arrested Dec. 3. The other four defendants were taken in Dec. 9, about the same time hundreds had gathered at the Palmer fairgrounds for a candlelight prayer vigil for the murdered Grunwald.
Family and friends of both Grunwald and the defendants pressed into the courtroom Tuesday to witness the brief proceedings.
Most declined to speak to the press, but Damien Peterson, from Anchorage, stepped forward.
“Yeah, Devin’s my little brother,” Peterson said. “It’s a lot to take in right now. I really don’t think his bail should be $100K, that’s crazy. He doesn’t really have an involvement.”
Devin Peterson has been charged with evidence tampering in relation to two guns incidental to the case and in allegedly destroying evidence, in this case Grunwald’s Ford Bronco, which was found burned near Wasilla a day after the victim went missing.
A grand jury indictment filed last week indicates at least four of the defendants “knowingly engaged in conduct that resulted in the death of David Grunwald under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
Almandinger’s attorney, Hannah Thoreston Barre, said not guilty pleas are standard for felony arraignments.
Judge Kristiansen has set a January 13 pre-trial conference date and a Feb. 21 trial date for Almandinger, Johnson, Renfro and Barrett.
Peterson’s pretrial hearing is set for Jan. 20 and his trial date is Feb. 27.
Original story | 3:03 p.m. Tuesday
ANCHORAGE — Teenagers charged in the death of a 16-year-old Palmer boy have pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges.
Anchorage television station KTVA reports attorneys entered the pleas in a Palmer courtroom Tuesday on behalf of the five, including several who are minors. All have been charged as adults in connection with the death of David Grunwald.
Erick Almandinger, 16, was arrested Dec. 3 and the others were arrested Friday.
Almandiger, Dominic Johnson, Austin Barrett and Bradley Renfro are charged with first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping and hindering prosecution.
Devin Peterson, 18, is charged with hindering prosecution and evidence tampering.
A criminal complaint against Almandinger said Grunwald was pistol-whipped by an acquaintance, driven to a remote location and shot.
Grunwald failed to return home after dropping off his girlfriend Nov. 13. His remains were found Dec. 2.
— Associated Press
