Jury delivers 8 guilty verdicts in Alaska teen murder trial

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Wednesday, October 9th, 2019 7:11am

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska jury has returned multiple guilty verdicts against one of four teenagers who was charged with beating and fatally shooting another boy, news reports said.

A jury in Fairbanks found 19-year-old Bradley Renfro guilty of eight counts Tuesday related to the November 2016 death of David Grunwald.

Renfro was convicted of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder, kidnapping, vehicle theft, arson and tampering with physical evidence. He was acquitted of first-degree assault.

Grunwald was killed near the Knik River about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Anchorage. The 16-year-old was severely beaten with a pistol, kidnapped in his own Ford Bronco, driven to a deserted location southeast of Palmer, and shot once in the head, police said.

Grunwald's body was found in December 2016 after Dominic Johnson led investigators to the site.

Johnson, Erick Almandinger and Austin Barrett were also charged with Grunwald's death. Almandinger and Johnson were tried and convicted of nine counts last year and are awaiting sentencing. Barrett is scheduled to be tried beginning in April 2020.

A fifth teen, Devin Peterson, was charged with three counts of evidence tampering and one count of hindering prosecution for hiding two guns used in the crime. Peterson pleaded guilty to all charges in August 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Renfro's trial was moved from Anchorage to Fairbanks because of publicity surrounding the trials of Almandinger and Johnson.

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