Court records allege David and Erick were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana in a 1971 camper trailer with a third, unnamed teen on Nov. 13. The third teen, identified only as “D.J.,” allegedly asked Erick to fetch a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun from inside his house. He did, bringing the firearm back to the trailer, where all three teens inspected and handled it.
At some point in the trailer, “D.J. bludgeoned [David] with the pistol,” the affidavit alleges. The injured boy was then driven to nearby Butte, Alaska.
Only partially conscious, David asked to be taken to his girlfriend’s home, and once the group arrived at the woods, he asked not to be killed. While Erick allegedly first told investigators it was D.J. who shot David, he later said it was another teenager, identified as “A.B.,” who fired the fatal round.
When police caught up with Erick, he allegedly told police he hadn’t seen his friend in two to three weeks, according to court records. He also provided police with an alibi, claiming he had attended a party in Anchorage the night that David vanished. But detectives secured a search warrant for Erick’s home, seizing the suspect’s tablet. Data from the device contradicted Erick’s claims he traveled to Anchorage the night David went missing.
Investigators — armed with this new evidence — spoke again with Erick, who allegedly acknowledged lying about his whereabouts the night his friend disappeared.
In addition, police searching the camper trailer detected “an overwhelming odor of bleach” as they entered the vehicle. Additional testing was performed on the camper, and blood evidence was recovered from inside the vehicle. Erick allegedly later admitted trying to clean the camper trailer of any physical evidence, court records show.
Erick also told a friend that he had killed David, recounting how he beat and then shot the teen. So far, only he has been charged with murder. He remains in custody and has not yet entered a plea. Records show he had not retained an attorney as of Monday night.
http://people.com/crime/missing-alaska-teen-david-grunwald-murder-weed/
