More charges in murder case

EPHRATA — Additional charges were filed on Tuesday in connection with the December murder of 31-year-old Jill Sundberg. A long continuance was also granted to give the prosecution and defense time to prepare their respective cases.

The suspected shooter in the murder, Gustavo Tapia Rodriguez, of Quincy, is now charged in Grant County Superior Court with first-degree murder, with aggravating circumstances of armed with a firearm, acting with deliberate cruelty, drive-by shooting and kidnapping, and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. In addition to the amending of the charges against Tapia Rodriguez, prosecutors amended the charges against one of his co-defendants, Julio Cesar Albarran Varona, of Quincy, who is now charged with first-degree murder, with aggravating circumstances of armed with a firearm, acting with deliberate cruelty, drive-by shooting and kidnapping, and, in the lesser, second-degree murder.

Prosecutors did not amend the charges against a third defendant in the case, Ambrosio Mendez Villanueva, of Quincy, who remains charged with first-degree murder. Due to the complexity of the case, Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz granted a long continuance for the three defendants and set a trial date for Feb. 7. The defendants remain jailed in lieu of $1 million bail apiece.

Sundberg's body was found Dec. 22 near a rest area on the Old Vantage Highway, near George. Initial information indicates Sundberg and Tapia Rodriguez were involved in an argument at the Shady Tree RV Park, near Quincy, and she was kidnapped and forced in an SUV by the three defendants and two other men, identified as Fernando Marcos Gutierrez, of Quincy, and Salvador Espinoza Gomez, city of residence not listed.

Marcos Gutierrez and Espinoza Gomez were  arrested and charged as material witnesses, with their bails set at $100,000 each. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Alan White told the Columbia Basin Herald Marcos Gutierrez and Espinoza Gomez remain lodged in the Grant County Jail.

The SUV was pulled over near the Old Vantage Highway and Sundberg was allegedly shot over a dozen times by Tapia Rodriguez. A total of 13 .40-caliber shell casings were found by investigators near Sundberg’s body. The men got back into the SUV and Mendez Villanueva allegedly grabbed a piece of cardboard.

“Ambrosio (Mendez Villanueva) went over to Jill’s body and put the piece of paper or cardboard on Jill and plunged the knife into it,” wrote a GCSO detective.

The sheriff’s office later released the contents of the note that was handwritten on the piece of cardboard. The message, which was written in Spanish, translates as: “For all those (expletive), (expletive) and (expletive) that show no respect to the gulf cartel.”

During testimony before U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., Grant County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Ryan Rectenwald said all five of the men are illegal immigrants. The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico’s oldest drug cartels and is a significant presence in the drug trafficking world.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.