Closing arguments made in Sundberg murder trial

Tapia Rodriguez

by Emry Dinman Staff Writer
| February 21, 2019 2:00 AM

EPHRATA — Attorneys made closing arguments in Grant County Superior Court Wednesday, wrapping up the weeks-long trial of a man suspected of being the gunman in the execution-style killing of Quincy mother of four Jill Sundberg.

Gustavo Tapia Rodriguez, 41, is accused of kidnapping Sundberg from the Shady Tree RV Park near George and, along with four other men acting on his orders, taking her out into a frozen parking lot off the Old Vantage Highway late at night Dec. 21, 2016. Prosecutors allege Tapia Rodriguez had Sundberg’s hands tied behind her back with a cell phone charging cable, had one of the men with him force her to kneel, and shot her in the back of the head 13 times.

Sundberg was found dead Dec. 22, 2016, by a jogger who had taken her dog for a run through the snow. Ambrosio Mendez Villanueva and Julio Cesar Albarran Varona are co-defendants in the case, and Fernando Marcos Gutierrez and Salvador Espinoza Gomez, also allegedly present for the murder, are material witnesses.

Robert Kentner, defense attorney for Tapia Rodriguez, summarized the evidence that the jury had been presented and described what he called his “deep-seated fears” for how they might consider that evidence.

Firstly, Kentner said, he feared the jurors’ capacity for sympathy, motioning to a projected photo of Sundberg’s body on the pavement and compacted snow of the deserted parking lot where she was found.

While compassion in the face of a heinous crime was a natural response, Kentner said, the jury’s job was to find Tapia Rodriguez guilty or not guilty based on the evidence — not to bring relief to Sundberg’s family, who were present in court Wednesday.

Kentner also expressed fear that the jury would give too much credence to the prosecution’s use of cell phone locater data, which had error rates of up to 15 miles, more than the distance between the RV park where Tapia Rodriguez resided and the place where Sundberg was found.

Prosecuting attorney Kevin McCrae, representing the state, disputed this point, noting that at least one ping placed Tapia Rodriguez’ phone within 50 meters of the scene of the crime during the time Sundberg’s murder was alleged to have occurred.

Further, McCrae argued, locater data showed Tapia Rodriguez was with the four other men — two of whom are co-defendants in this case, and two of whom are material witnesses — throughout the night as they traveled from the RV park to the scene of the crime and back.

Finally, Kentner said he was afraid that the jury would heavily weigh the testimony of co-defendant Julio Cesar Albarran Varona, who told the court last week that he had forced Sundberg to her knees before Tapia Rodriguez shot her down.

Albarran Varona, the other co-defendant and two material witnesses were offered sweetheart deals by the state in exchange for their cooperation, Kentner said, and should not be trusted. The other men implicated in the case may have had their own motivations to have kidnapped and killed Sundberg, possibly because she was a rival drug dealer, and they were framing Tapia Rodriguez to escape punishment, Kentner said.

Further, Kentner argued that inconsistencies between the men’s testimonies, as well as between the testimony in court and previous statements given by each man to investigators, showed them to be unreliable.

McCrae, in his own closing arguments, contended that Kentner’s argument didn’t hold up to scrutiny. The men with Tapia Rodriguez had implicated themselves in Sundberg’s murder, which McCrae argued was inconsistent with Kentner’s description of men conspiring to frame someone for their crimes.

For more than two weeks and over a hundred hours in court, the family of Jill Sundberg has watched attorneys present evidence ranging from hour-long debates over the functionality of security cameras in a gas station to morbid photos of Sundberg’s body from various angles.

The jury’s decision is expected as soon as Thursday.