There are so many players in this case, it reminds of Game of Thrones.
There are so many players in this case, it reminds of Game of Thrones.
Just you wait... it's about to really get complicated!Originally Posted by Bewitchingstorm
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...eccc25c64.html
Based on interviews and court documents, here is a look back at key events surrounding the disappearance and murder of Jessica Rehfeld, 22, of Rapid City.
May 12, 2015: Rehfeld applies for a protection order against Jonathon Klinetobe, an ex-boyfriend who she is afraid of.
May 18, 2015: Rehfeld leaves the home of her boyfriend, Taylor Janis, with two men police now say were Richard Hirth and David Schneider. Rehfeld doesn't show up for work. Authorities allege the men killed her that day and buried her body near Rockerville with Klinetobe's help.
May 22, 2015: Rehfeld is officially listed as a missing person; the Rapid City Police Department sends out a press release asking for the public's help in locating her.
May 23, 2015: The Rapid City Police Department posts a message on social media saying it has received information that Rehfeld remains missing but is not in immediate harm. The police send out a similar press release the following day.
May 27, 2015: Raquel Brubaker, Janis' mother, applies for a protection order against Klinetobe, saying she fears him.
Late May, 2015: Authorities allege Klinetobe, with the help of Garland Brown and Michael Frye, dig up and rebury Rehfeld's body.
Nov. 10, 2015: The stepmother of Klinetobe's then-girlfriend applies for a protection order against him.
May 12, 2016: A witness in the Rehfeld case contacts the police in Newcastle, Wyo.
May 13, 2016: The witness leads Rapid City police and other authorities to the area of Rehfeld's grave.
May 14, 2016: Authorities find Rehfeld's body.
May 15, 2016: Klinetobe is arrested.
May 16, 2016: Hirth, Schneider, Brown and Frye are arrested.
May 17, 2016: Authorities call a press conference about Rehfeld's case. Meanwhile, the mother of Klinetobe's newborn child applies for a protection order against him, saying she fears him if he ever gets out of jail.
also http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...842543361.html
On May 23, 2015, the Rapid City Police Department released a public notice stating that Jessica Ann Rehfeld, a 22-year-old Rapid City woman reported missing the previous day, was now considered by police as "not in immediate harm,? and that police believed she was still in Rapid City.
Then, almost exactly a year later, with no further updates issued, the police department and Pennington County Sheriff's Office announced they had found Rehfeld?s body buried in a makeshift grave in the woods south of Rockerville, and that five people were charged in connection with her murder and burial.
Police didn't know it at the time, but when the chief of detectives decided to inform the public that Rehfeld was believed to be OK, she was already dead. Police now say she had been killed and buried a few days prior to that alert, reportedly stabbed to death in a car by two men who had been hired by her ex-boyfriend.
Some people close to Rehfeld believe it was a major mistake for the police department to publicly announce that Rehfeld was ?not in immediate harm,? and they are skeptical if investigators continued to look for her after that point.
Those critics include Raquel Brubaker, one of the last people to see Rehfeld alive.
"They?re acting like they did everything in their power," Brubaker said of the police, ?but they didn?t."
Last year, Preston Feagan, a friend and co-worker of Rehfeld?s, offered Rapid City Detective Daniel M. DeNeire ? the lead investigator of Rhefeld's missing persons case ? information about the man who police now say was the mastermind of her murder. Feagan believes that DeNeire did not take Rehfeld's disappearance seriously from the start.
Rehfeld ?was a good, honest, wonderful person who deserved to be looked for,? Feagan said.
Capt. James Johns, supervisor of the Rapid City Criminal Investigation Division, insists that despite perceptions to the contrary, detectives never stopped looking for Rehfeld. He said that over the last year, detectives conducted 30 interviews with people close to her, including the man who is now charged with setting her murder in motion, Jonathon Klinetobe.
?The reality is there are questions. And we recognize that,? Johns said. ?When I sent out the message that we believed Jessica was safe, I knew that we would be scrutinized if we were wrong. But at that time, that was the best information we had. Again, hindsight being 20/20, go back, do it all over again, we would do things differently knowing what we know now.?
This news article ? pieced together from court documents, criminal hearings, information provided by authorities and multiple interviews with people close to Rehfeld ? is an attempt to answer some of the questions that loom over the investigation of Rehfeld?s disappearance and murder.
Her final hours
On May 18, 2015, the last day she was seen alive, Rehfeld was at Raquel Brubaker?s home when two men came to the door offering her a ride to work.
Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood near the Central States Fairgrounds, the Brubaker home is a single-story house that the 47-year-old Rapid City woman shares with her daughter and son Taylor Janis, 28. At the time of her disappearance, Janis was dating Rehfeld, and had been on and off for two years.
?Jessica was like a daughter to me,? Brubaker said.
She and Janis remember Rehfeld as a well-liked, energetic and bubbly person. A graduate of Rapid City Central High School, Rehfeld was working on writing and illustrating a children?s book, and planned to someday become a beautician, Brubaker said.
?She liked to dance,? Janis said with a pained smile. ?She liked to go to the hookah bar.?
Rehfeld's small stature belied a vibrant, strong personality, Feagan said.
?She was tiny, itty-bitty,? he said. ?Dynamite comes in small packages, though.?
Rehfeld?s grandfather, John Rehfeld, 70, of Rapid City, described his granddaughter as hardworking and smart.
?That girl went through calculus and trigonometry like it was child?s play,? he said.
Rehfeld started spending her nights at the Brubaker household shortly after she and Janis started dating again in the spring of 2015. She had her own apartment but was scared to stay there alone, Janis said. When she went out, she carried a Taser.
cont...
?She was completely afraid of JJ,? Janis said.
JJ Jones is a Facebook alias used by Klinetobe, and was the name by which Brubaker and Janis came to know Rehfeld?s volatile ex-boyfriend. Brubaker said that Klinetobe once broke into Rehfeld?s apartment while she was there and proceeded to beat her. When she came over to the Brubaker house after the incident, she had dark bruises on her arms.
Feagan remembers multiple occasions when Rehfeld came to work with bruises on her back and hips.
Worried for her safety, Brubaker helped Rehfeld get a protection order against Klinetobe on May 12, 2015. In her handwritten statements, Rehfeld said that she feared for her life and that Klinetobe had threatened to choke her, slit her throat and rape her.
Six days after filing the protection order, Rehfeld was at Brubaker?s house. She needed a ride to Wal-Mart, where she worked the night shift. Without access to a car, she would usually rely on Janis for rides.
But that day, Janis recalled, two men he didn?t know came to the house and said they would give Rehfeld a lift. Brubaker said they stopped by in an initial visit in the afternoon, then returned to pick up Rehfeld later that night.
It wasn?t actually that unusual. Brubaker said Rehfeld?s friends would sometimes drive her to work instead of Janis, and Rehfeld seemed to know at least one of the two men that came for her that night. The older man, Brubaker and Janis agreed, the one with the cane who walked with a limp. He said his name was Richard, Brubaker recalled, though he didn?t give a last name. Rehfeld seemed to know him, Brubaker said, because she called him ?brother,? as she often referred to her male friends.
Sitting in the living room, Rehfeld and Janis talked casually with the two men for awhile. Richard was the chatty one, Brubaker recalled, while the other man, a heavy-set guy who said his name was David, stood mostly silent and aloof.
In the course of their conversation, Rehfeld brought up Klinetobe. The two men nodded along as they listened to her worry that he might some day do something to seriously hurt her. After a while, they eventually escorted Rehfeld out to their car parked in the driveway outside.
David got into the driver?s seat and Rehfeld sat next to him in the front passenger seat. The second man, Richard, the one with the limp, sat behind her.
?I watched her look at me,? Janis said.
It was the last time he saw her. The two men, who police now say are Richard Hirth, 35, and David Schneider, 24, allegedly stabbed Rehfeld to death in their vehicle not long after leaving Brubaker's home.
A search is launched
When Rehfeld didn?t return home, Brubaker said she reported her missing to the Rapid City Police Department the next day and urged investigators to question Klinetobe.
Capt. Johns said Rehfeld was officially listed as a missing person on May 22, 2015. On May 23, 2015, the department issued its statement that Rehfeld was ?not in immediate harm? and was presumed to still be in Rapid City.
The determination that she was alright, Johns said, was made based on information given to the police by people who knew and were "close" to Rehfeld.
Johns said he made the decision to push that information to the public because ?at the time we didn?t want to have this overwhelming shadow of people going out and taking matters into their own hands and trying to find Jessica.?
Despite the police bulletin stating Rehfeld was in no danger, family members continued to search for Rehfeld. According to her grandfather, Rehfeld's father, who declined to be interviewed for this story, hired a private investigator and returned to Rapid City in June to conduct a foot search for his daughter in several locations.
Johns said Rapid City detectives interviewed 25 of Rehfeld?s associates in the two-day period after she was reported missing. After sending out the notice that they believed Rehfeld was in no immediate danger, investigators conducted a total of five more interviews, Johns said.
When they called for updates a few days after May 22 last year, Feagan and Brubaker recall police detectives telling them that the investigation into Rehfeld?s disappearance was either closed or suspended. The Journal was unable to confirm if Rapid City detectives made those statements, but Johns said the idea that the investigation was ever suspended is false.
?This was never put on a shelf,? Johns said, adding that it's difficult to investigate a case as a homicide without a body. ?This was never dismissed as a closed case. This was a case that our detectives had on their minds, that they were concerned about and continued to work throughout the entire year.?
Main suspect interviewed
Klinetobe, 26, was among the 25 people interviewed in the two days after Rehfeld's disappearance, Johns said. Rehfeld?s protection order and deep fear of Klinetobe came up in the course of those interviews, but it didn?t lead anywhere, he said.
He also believes detectives talked to the two men who picked Rehfeld up on the evening of May 18, 2015, though he could not say for sure. In the initial public notice that Rehfeld was a missing person, police indicated she had last been seen in the presence of two men, now believed to be Hirth and Schneider, who are charged with stabbing her to death.
?Obviously the people that we talked to in those interviews, some of those people lied to us," Johns said. "Some of those people may have been ? how do I say it ? wrong in what they believed.?
Feagan said that when he called the police department?s lead investigator for an update on Rehfeld, he was told the police didn?t think Klinetobe was involved based on information learned from other sources.
Johns would not elaborate on what Klinetobe or anyone else said during their interviews, but court documents allege that Klinetobe, along with Schneider and Hirth, ?provided false information to law enforcement in attempts to obstruct the investigation into Ms. Rehfeld?s disappearance.? All three are charged with first-degree murder and are each being held on $2 million bonds.
Besides the interviews, another technique RCPD detectives used in their investigation was to show certain people close to Rehfeld a photo of a woman believed to be her, taken after Rehfeld's disappearance.
Johns would not say who the photo was shown to, how many people it was shown to, or how many people positively identified Rehfeld in it. That information, he said, is part of the ongoing investigation.
But Brubaker, who was shown the photo, said, ?It was from Wal-Mart, or a store or something. I?m not sure.?
Johns could not say where it was taken, but Brubaker remembers the photograph was a grainy, downward-slanting view of a young woman. She looked vaguely like Rehfeld, Brubaker said, but there were some key differences. The glasses were wrong. Her hair was too short. Her clothing was too colorful. Rehfeld, Brubaker said, preferred wearing darker clothes.
Police then asked Brubaker if she thought it was Rehfeld, thereby indicating she might still be alive. ?I said, ?It kind of looks like her, but I?m not sure,?? Brubaker said.
Janis and Brubaker?s daughter, who also knew Rehfeld, looked at the photo as well. Both said they told the police that it wasn?t her.
Rapid City investigators also contacted the Internal Revenue Service to track Rehfeld?s financial activity, and placed her name on a national law enforcement database to keep tabs on traffic tickets or any other run-ins she might have had with the legal system. If any leads came in, detectives would chase them down, Johns said.
Witness breaks case open
The big break in Rehfeld?s case came on May 13 this year, when a witness whose identity has not been released went to the police station in Newscastle, Wyo., and told officers where they could find Rehfeld's body.
Investigators from multiple law enforcement agencies reacted quickly, Johns said, assembling a 15-member task force to comb the woods near Rockerville and work around the clock to chase down leads on the people they believed were responsible for Rehfeld?s death.
A probable cause affidavit prepared by Detective DeNeire states that after picking Rehfeld up from Brubaker's home on May 18 last year, Schneider and Hirth drove to an industrial area of town, held her down and stabbed her multiple times with a knife. Once it was apparent that she was dead, they put her in the trunk and picked up Klinetobe.
Police say the three men then drove into the woods south of Rockerville and buried her body in a shallow grave.
Police arrested Klinetobe last week, alleging that he hired Schneider and Hirth to kill Rehfeld. The three men have since been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree aggravated kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first-degree aggravated kidnapping.
Two weeks after Rehfeld?s killing, police allege that Klinetobe returned to her burial site to move the body. Investigators say he brought two Rapid City men with him: Michael Frye, 24, and Garland Brown, 29, who are both charged with being an accessory to a crime and are being held on $1 million bond each.
Law enforcement officials have since declined to answer further questions from the Journal, citing a pending motion for a gag order filed by Klinetobe's defense attorneys.
Finding out about Jessica
When Brubaker came home on the afternoon of May 17 this year, she found Janis standing in the living room, his eyes raw and red. His expression blank, Janis held out his cell phone to his mother. On the screen was a breaking news report from local media explaining details surrounding Rehfeld's killing.
Brubaker and Janis had learned of Rehfeld?s death the previous day. But what they didn?t know at the time was how she died.
Janis learned the grisly details of Rehfeld?s murder about 20 minutes before his mother walked through the front door. Scrolling through the news report on her son?s phone, Brubaker read for the first time the horrific manner in which Rehfeld?s life was taken.
Suppressing a flood of tears with the palm of her hand, Brubaker said, ?There?s just no reason for what they did."
Brubaker remains unsatisfied with how the Rapid City police investigated Rehfeld?s disappearance.
?They?re not going to convince me of anything,? she said. ?They should have tried harder.?
Feagan, Rehfeld's former co-worker, knows there?s probably nothing anyone could have done to save Rehfeld, but he also has to live with the fact that he saw his friend's death coming.
?There was an officer who said something along the lines that ?Jessica?s voice was taken from her and we have to be her voice now, and we will make sure her voice is heard,?? Feagan said. ?And I think at the root of all this is that when she disappeared, nobody?s voice was heard. Not mine, not her father?s, not her grandmother?s, not her sister?s, not any of the people who called.?
Rehfeld?s grandfather John said he was impressed with how quickly the Rapid City police detectives were able to track down and arrest Klinetobe and his alleged accomplices once the body was found. But he wishes the department had not made the May 23 statement that Rehfeld was ?not in immediate harm.?
?I would have preferred to leave it where it was,? John Rehfeld said, ?so people wouldn?t think everything was OK.?
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...842543361.html
Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo has announced that he will seek the death penalty for Jonathan Klinetobe and Richard Hirth.
Defense attorneys for the men both objected, stating they weren't notified about Vargo's intent to seek the death penalty in a timely matter.
Hirth's attorney also filed a motion to suppress alleged statements. His evidentiary hearing is scheduled for June 14 at 8:30 a.m.
Klinetobe's next hearing is set for June 7 at 1 p.m.
The men are both charged with first-degree murder, along with other felonies.
The judge is keeping a gag order on case details due to the nature of the ongoing investigation.
http://www.newscenter1.tv/story/3433...rehfeld-murder
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...24bfde3df.html
Items believed to have been owned by a murdered Rapid City woman were found in an apartment where the alleged mastermind in the killing had stayed, the court heard Wednesday.
A necklace, purse and cellphone believed to have belonged to Jessica Rehfeld were among the items police seized from the Sturgis apartment in May 2016, two days after law enforcement unearthed the body of the 22-year-old woman who had been missing for a year.
Jonathon Klinetobe, 27, Rehfeld's former boyfriend who is accused of plotting her kidnapping and killing, had been staying at the apartment with his then-girlfriend.
Klinetobe is facing multiple felony charges, including first-degree murder, for which the state is seeking the death penalty. The Rapid City man accused of fatally stabbing Rehfeld, Richard Hirth, 36, is facing identical charges.
Another co-defendant, David Schneider, 25, has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, and is waiting to be sentenced to life in prison. Two other men, Michael Frye and Garland Brown, have pleaded guilty to helping rebury Rehfeld after her initial burial by Klinetobe, Hirth and Schneider.
At the Pennington County Courthouse on Wednesday, the public heard previously undisclosed details in the case during a daylong hearing related to the defense questioning the scope and probable cause for the search warrant.
Several Rapid City police detectives testified that the other defendants said Klinetobe specifically wanted to keep the necklace Rehfeld had been wearing at the time of her death.
The necklace was allegedly going to be used as "proof of death" for a bounty that the motorcycle gang Hells Angels had offered in exchange for Rehfeld's killing. This was apparently so she would not go to police with information against the gang.
The necklace "needed to be bloody," Detective Evan Harris quoted Hirth telling police the instructions he had received from Klinetobe.
Hirth had said the bounty on Rehfeld had been $500,000, whereas a woman Klinetobe had been living with in Rapid City at that time said it was $2,500 to $3,500.
The woman, Beverly Cheshier, whose name was brought up in court for the first time, had told police she had driven with Klinetobe to the burial site multiple times.
Detective Cade Bloomenrader, who wrote the search warrant application, told the court he doubted that the motorcycle gang had put a hit on Rehfeld.
?It just didn't add up," he said on the stand.
Bloomenrader believed Rehfeld's killing was related to her filing a report that Klinetobe had assaulted her, as well as her seeking a protection order against Klinetobe. In her application for a protection order less than a week before she disappeared in May 2015, Rehfeld said she feared for her life after Klinetobe threatened to kill her.
Meanwhile, Frye had apparently told police Klinetobe wanted to kill Rehfeld ?because she threatened to tell everybody that he beat the (expletive) out of her.?
Keeping Rehfeld?s necklace was equated to "owning a piece of her," a power and control dynamic that can be seen in cases of domestic violence, Bloomenrader said. He believed that Klinetobe would take such a ?token? or ?trophy? wherever he went, and after he had moved from Rapid City to Sturgis.
In interviews with police after Rehfeld's body had been discovered, Klinetobe claimed to still love her, yet he also admitted to leaving her a threatening voicemail.
Klinetobe had told police the killing was Frye's idea because Rehfeld chose Klinetobe over Frye.
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The court also heard that the four men who allegedly assisted Klinetobe, as well as Cheshier, said they had not gotten paid.
Detective Jason LaHaie, who participated in the apartment search, said the necklace they found resembled the one Rehfeld was seen wearing in her Facebook photos. The necklace, he said, was discovered inside a ?lock box? sitting on the kitchen table.
A silver purse, which matched Cheshier?s description of Rehfeld's purse, was found in a closet outside the bathroom. Inside the purse was a receipt for apartment rental payment made out to Rehfeld, as well as a Walmart nametag for "Jesca." Rehfled was working at Walmart at the time she disappeared.
Schneider told police he saw Klinetobe take Rehfeld's purse. Cheshier said she saw the purse at the trailer she and Klinetobe had been sharing soon after Rehfeld was killed.
The apartment closet also held keys with a tag bearing Rehfeld's apartment number, as well as a box of gloves and bandannas, which police said the other defendants talked about using during the reburial.
In a safe in the master bedroom, detectives found hair ties, notes addressed to Rehfeld and a cellphone with its battery lying separately. Harris said this fit Hirth?s story about removing the battery from Rehfeld?s phone after her death.
Items found relevant to the murder investigation were taken because they could potentially hold traces of physical evidence connected to Rehfeld, the detectives said.
Klinetobe is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 15, but the court's decision on the warrant questions is not expected for another six months. Klinetobe is detained at the Pennington County Jail along with Hirth and Schneider.
Frye is free on bond while awaiting sentencing, whereas Brown was sentenced to prison in August and was released on parole last month.
Beverly Cheshier
https://www.facebook.com/beverly.cheshier.9
As much as I might get eaten, good on beverly for speaking up, eventually (I assume she was the one who told them where to body was).
The state withdrew Monday its intent to seek the death penalty in the Jessica Rehfeld murder case following a request from the victim?s family.
Pennington County State?s Attorney Mark Vargo announced the withdrawal at a hearing for defendant Jonathon Klinetobe, 12 months after Vargo said the state would ask for capital punishment in the Rapid City woman's fatal stabbing.
?We are withdrawing our intent to seek the death penalty as it relates to Mr. Klinetobe,? Vargo told 7th Circuit Judge Heidi Linngren at the county courthouse Monday morning.
Klinetobe, 28, of Sturgis, is accused of hiring two Rapid City men to kill his ex-girlfriend Rehfeld in May 2015. The 22-year-old woman was considered a missing person until police said an informant led them to her makeshift grave near Rockerville in May 2016.
Klinetobe and Richard Hirth, the alleged killer, are facing charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. Their most serious charge, first-degree murder, carries a maximum sentence of life in prison when death is off the table. They pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Another defendant, David Schneider, 26, pleaded guilty in January 2017 to first-degree murder. He is in county jail, waiting to receive a life sentence under the terms of a deal with prosecutors.
The victim?s father, Michael Rehfeld, told Judge Linngren that the prosecution?s reversal on the death penalty issue was done at his family?s request.
Michael explained that getting the death penalty, if convicted, would keep the men in the news for decades as their appeals wound through the legal system. He didn?t want ?the guilty to become famous? while his daughter?s killing would become almost a footnote in the process.
The Rehfelds also wanted to soon reclaim Jessica?s necklace and cellphone, which contain the last photos of her alive. Both items are being held as police evidence and would remain so while appeals are being heard, and which Michael said would make it harder for the family to move on.
Michael said he originally ?fully supported? the state?s decision to seek the death penalty against Klinetobe and Hirth after being ?consumed with anger? toward anyone involved in his daughter's death.
But with the passage of time, as well as research on capital punishment, Michael said he started to question the decision and eventually asked the state to reconsider its position. ?And they have agreed to respect my decision,? he said as several family members sat listening in the gallery?s first row.
Linngren said the news likely ?comes as a shock? to the majority of people in the courtroom, particularly members of the media. But the judge reminded everyone involved in the case that the gag order she issued in June 2016 remained in place as the police investigation continued.
Hirth, 37, is scheduled to return to court this afternoon, where the state is expected to also withdraw the death penalty notice in his case.
These developments are expected to help bring down Pennington County's expenses short term, but the details aren't immediately clear, said county commission Chairman Lloyd LaCroix.
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/loc...885d6727c.html
The Sturgis man who planned and helped with the May 2015 kidnapping, murder and burial of his ex-girlfriend went to great lengths to plan and cover up his plot, prosecutors said Monday in court.
Jonathan Klinetobe is a master at "lies and deception" who recruited others and tried to evade being caught by crafting complex stories, making false police reports and steering police and his victim's family in the wrong direction said Lara Roetzel, chief deputy at the Pennington County State's Attorney Office,
Klinetobe, 30, appeared at the state court in Rapid City for the first day of his sentencing hearing, which is expected to last through Thursday or Friday. He could be sentenced up to life without parole after pleading guilty in September to aiding and abetting the first-degree manslaughter of Jessica Rehfeld, a 22-year-old from Rapid City.
Klinetobe and Rehfeld dated on-and-off in 2014 and 2015, Roetzel said. After Rehfeld ended the relationship in April 2015, Klinetobe began stalking her and threatening to kill Rehfeld, her new boyfriend and her family in phone calls and Facebook messages. He also began talking with Richard Hirth, who also knew Rehfeld, about needing to either threaten or kill Rehfeld because she had information on the Hell's Angels, which would pay them $500,000 for the bounty.
Steve Neavill, a retired Rapid City police detective, said he found zero evidence that this story was real, or that Rehfeld or Klinetobe had any connection to the motorcycle gang.
Hirth and David Schneider, both of Rapid City, began visiting Rehfeld on May 12, 2015, saying they wanted to protect her from Klinetobe and began driving her to her job at Walmart, Roetzel said.
Rehfeld filed a protection order and police report against Klinetobe that same day, providing photographs of bruises Klinetobe gave her on the 10th and explaining how he threatened to rape and kill her and her family, Neavill said.
Klinetobe became "enraged" after receiving the protection order on May 15, it was the "straw that pushed him over the edge" and made him commit to the murder, Roetzel said. Klinetobe discussed methods with Hirth and chose the murder date but it was ultimately Hirth who decided on the specific plot.
The next day, Roetzel said, Klinetobe called 911 to say 12 men assaulted him in a Rapid City park and said they were going after Rehfeld. Neavill said he found no evidence of this attack taking place.
Rehfeld thought Hirth and Schneider were again going to give her a ride to work on the evening of the 18th so she "got in the car with the men who were about to kill her," Roetzel said.
The murder, initial investigation
Schneider drove his blue Dodge Avenger while Rehfeld sat in the front passenger seat and Hirth sat behind her, Roetzel said. Once they were in a secluded area, Schneider held Rehfeld down as Hirth covered her mouth and stabbed her at least seven times in the neck and torso.
Rehfeld did not die an "easy or painless" death but "she did not go down without a fight," Roetzel said. She begged and pleaded with the men, and asked them why they were hurting her.
Once Rehfeld realized she was going to die, she asked if she could call her father to say goodbye and look up at the stars one more time, Roetzel said through tears.
Hirth and Schneider put Rehfeld's body in the trunk, picked up Klinetobe and drove out to Teepee Gulch Road off of Highway 16 near Rockerville, Roetzel said. Klinetobe took Rehfeld's purse, phone, wallet and bloody necklace ? which he treated as a "trophy" ? and they all took turns acting as a lookout and digging a shallow grave. A photograph of the site shows a few logs piled on top of grass next to a small hill.
Schneider's car battery died so the group had to flag down a car on the highway to help them jump start the battery, Roetzel said. Detectives later tracked down and interviewed the people inside that car, who remembered speaking with the trio.
Klinetobe then told Hirth and Schneider not to tell anyone about the murder, that the Hell's Angels would go after them if anyone found out what they did, and had his mother agree to tell police that the group were playing video games and drinking beer at her house, Roetzel said.
On May 19, Roetzel said, Klinetobe against called 911, this time saying four men with pistols and bandannas attacked him and said that Jessica was next. Neaville said there's also no evidence of this assault.
The mother of Rehfeld's new boyfriend's told the Journal she called the Rapid City Police Department on May 19 to say Rehfeld was missing but the police didn't list Rehfeld as a missing person until May 22 and said she was "not in immediate harm" the next day, Journal archives show.
Detectives did interview Klinetobe ? and were aware of the legal complaints against him ? soon after Rehfeld went missing, Neavill said. He said a mutual friend of Rehfeld and Klinetobe told police on the 20th that she had dropped Rehfeld off at work. And detectives found a surveillance video on May 21 that showed a woman who looked like Rehfeld wearing a Walmart uniform walking into the store. Neaville said one of Rehfeld's sisters agreed it was her but other people shown the image told the Journal that it was poor quality and didn't look like Rehfeld.
State's Attorney Mark Vargo asked if the investigation was put on the "back burner" due to the Walmart video and Neavill said yes.
It's unclear whether detectives thought Klinetobe's history of violence and threats against Rehfeld were enough probable cause to issue search warrants against him, and why they didn't more aggressively search for Rehfeld since she hadn't been seen in person. Neavill, lawyers and family members can't answer these questions because they are under a gag order to not speak with the media.
Experts told the Journal at the time that they advise against declaring missing people safe unless they are positive about it, while some of Rehfeld's loved ones said they believe it was a mistake for the police department to publicly announce that she was not in immediate harm and were skeptical if investigators continued to look for her after that point. Police said they were working on the case the entire time.
Informant comes forward
Klinetobe had his friend Beverly Cheshier drive him to visit the burial site and he became worried it was too shallow and close to the road, Roetzel said. So two weeks later he hired Garland Brown and Michael Frye, both of Rapid City, to help him move and rebury the body further into the woods and deeper into the ground. A photograph of the second burial site shows a large pile of wood covering a grassy area.
Klinetobe kept changing the amount of money he said the Hell's Angels would pay the men, saying it was still too dangerous to deliver it, and never ended up paying anyone, Roetzel said.
Frye later told law enforcement that Klinetobe threatened to kill him, Brown and Cheshier if they told anyone about the murder, Roetzel said. But Cheshier later became so disturbed about it that she moved away and eventually reported the murder and burial site to police in Newcastle, Wyo. in May 2016.
Roetzel said she wondered where the case would be today if Cheshier hadn't come forward.
She showed photographs of a garbage bag and Rehfeld's Walmart lanyard found at the first burial site, and a ring and Walmart vest found at the second one. She also displayed photos of Rehfeld's "mummified" body wrapped in a tarp. She said a lab was able to identify Rehfeld through a leg bone, and detectives were able to count stab wounds through her shirt and neck.
Detectives also found Schneider's car, which he had been reupholstered and sold, Roetzel said. But she showed photographs of the stripped-down car, which still had blood stains on the yellow padding underneath the seats. She displayed photos of the items Klinetobe took from Rehfeld that were found in his house. But Klinetobe told police that Rehfeld's most recent boyfriend was the murderer and had his friends and family lie for him.
Neavill read texts from Klinetobe found on Rehfeld's phone that said "you are dead," that she deserved to be raped and abused, and that the Hell's Angels have a bounty on her.
Elizabeth Regalado, one of Klinetobe's defense lawyers, focused on Hirth's role in the murder when cross examining Neavill.
Neavill told Regalado that Hirth took primary responsibility for the planning and execution of the murder, that he had to convince Schneider to participate, and that he made Klinetobe help with the burial. He said Hirth said he received a call from a third party the night of the murder saying the attack on Rehfeld had to be a murder. Neavill said detectives haven't been able to figure out who made that call.
Roetzel's narrative and Neavill's testimony were followed by victim impact statements from five of Rehfeld's loves ones. Tuesday's hearing will involve testimony from a doctor who will speak about Klinetobe's psychological history.
The case against Hirth is on hold while he undergoes competency restoration at the state mental health hospital in Yankton. Schneider is waiting to being sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder. Brown has been released from prison after receiving a four-year sentence in 2016 for being an accessory to the murder, according to the Department of Corrections. Frye, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to being an accessory and is out of jail without bond, will be sentenced some time after his Jan. 13 status hearing.
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/lo...7ad5ce995f97b8
Jessica Rehfeld's loved ones testified Monday about going through multiple chapters of grief and trauma since the 22-year-old Rapid City woman went missing in May 2015.
It's been a "never ending hell," Michael Rehfeld said with a photograph of his smiling daughter with a flower in her hair printed onto the back of his shirt.
First, they moved across the country, quit jobs, became amateur detectives, and clung onto the hope that Jessica was alive as they anxiously searched for her for a year, the loved ones said.
"What we didn't know is it would get worse," Michael said.
A year later, Jessica's family and friends were re-traumatized when they learned she had been violently murdered at the direction of her ex-boyfriend, the exact person they feared would hurt her.
"Our souls were crushed, ripped to shreds," Michael said through tears. "We lost her again."
Then came years of witnessing painful court hearings and media coverage, which continue today along with nightmares, economic hardship and repeated thoughts of what Rehfeld's life would be like if she hadn't been taken from them.
Michael was one of five loved ones who gave victim impact statements ? more sent letters to the judge ? on the first day of Jonathan Klinetobe's sentencing hearing at the state court in Rapid City. The hearing is expected to last through Thursday or Friday.
Klinetobe could be sentenced up to life without parole after he pleaded guilty in September to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter.
The 30-year-old from Sturgis hired Richard Hirth and David Schneider, both of Rapid City, to kidnap and kill Jessica before he helped them bury her in the woods near Rockerville on May 18, 2015, prosecutors said. Klinetobe then hired Garland Brown and Michael Frye, both of Rapid City, two weeks later to help him dig up Rehfeld's body from the shallow grave and rebury her deeper into the woods and further underground.
Jessica was considered a missing person "not in immediate harm" until police announced in May 2016 that an informant led them to her makeshift grave.
Stacie Kellogg, one of the victim witnesses, said Jessica loved to volunteer at a camp for disabled children that she and Michael worked at. She said Jessica enjoyed teaching camp songs and had a happy, friendly and energetic personality. Jessica loved her family and no one at the camp believed she would have run away from them, Kellogg said.
John Rehfeld described his granddaughter as a cute, sweet and funny "ray of sunshine" who would sometimes make spontaneous, unannounced visits to his house. And despite Jessica's rough childhood, she was able to see the good in everyone.
The last time he saw Jessica, John said, she cried about Klinetobe beating and robbing her and said she was upset about having to work to replace the items he stole. But she would never have the chance to try to replace them, John said.
Misty Rehfeld remembered riding bikes and visiting streams with her sister, who danced while she cooked and spoke about wanting children. She said Jessica had to act like a mother to her three younger sisters since their own mother was abusive and manipulative. Jessica then became an independent, forgiving adult who volunteered and was proud to financially support herself.
Misty called Klinetobe an egotistic "dumpster fire of a human being" who treated her sister as an object, rather than a person. She called Klinetobe a "coward" who's shown no remorse and tried to blame others for the murder.
Michael said he quit his job in Virginia to move to Rapid City so he could look for his daughter. He said Klinetobe, his friends and family contacted him to offer help but just pushed him towards their own personal enemies.
He said his family couldn't sleep or focus, and blamed themselves, asking what they did to make Jessica stay away from them. Once Jessica was found, Michael said, he had to explain the concepts of murder and evil to his younger daughters and how real monsters exist, but not under their beds. Michael said he's been unable to work and his daughters need to attend therapy.
Michael said Klinetobe deserves the death penalty, which prosecutors took off the table at the request of the family before the plea deal, when Klinetobe was facing a first-degree murder charge. He asked Judge Heidi Linngren to sentence Klinetobe to life in prison without parole because he's a danger to society.
"If we cannot escape the loss of Jessica, he shouldn't escape the consequences of taking her," Misty said.
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/lo...7ad5ce995f97b8
The family of the Sturgis man who planned the May 2015 kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend said Wednesday that there's no way he is capable of doing such a thing on his own.
Jonathan Klinetobe "does not have the capability to come up with something like this," his sister Ashley said at the state court in Rapid City. "He can't plan anything."
"I don't think he's capable of doing that by himself" and the idea that he was the "mastermind" of the plot is fake, said his mother Lynn Jones. When he was younger "he would threaten people all the time but never follow through."
Ashley and Lynn made the comments while they and Duane Jones, Lynn's husband, testified for three hours about Klinetobe being physically abused and having serious mental, academic and behavioral health problems while growing up.
Klinetobe, 30, appeared at the state court in Rapid City for the third day of his sentencing hearing, which is expected to last through Thursday or Friday.
While Ashley and Lynn questioned Klinetobe's level of involvement in the murder, he pleaded guilty in September to aiding and abetting the first-degree manslaughter of Jessica Rehfeld, a 22-year-old from Rapid City who had filed a police report and protection order against him shortly before the murder. Klinetobe could be sentenced up to life without parole.
During his change-of-plea hearing, Klinetobe said he knew Rehfeld would be killed, was aware of the plan, and had a role in the killing. But he said "no" when asked if Rehfeld was killed at his request. It's unclear if he admitted to ordering the murder in the six-page factual basis document he signed, which is sealed due to a gag order.
But prosecutors said Monday that Klinetobe hired Richard Hirth and David Schneider, both of Rapid City, to kidnap and kill Rehfeld before he helped them bury her in the woods near Rockerville on May 18, 2015. Klinetobe then hired Garland Brown and Michael Frye, both of Rapid City, two weeks later to help him dig up Rehfeld's body from the shallow grave and bury her deeper into the woods and farther underground.
Prosecutors also said Klinetobe went to great lengths to plan and cover up the murder by creating a fake story about the Hell's Angels, making false police reports, and steering police and Rehfeld's family in the wrong direction.
Rehfeld's family members have attended the entire sentencing but Wednesday marked the first time Klinetobe's relatives appeared for the hearing.
Ashley, Lynn and Duane were calm and confident as they answered questions from defense lawyer Elizabeth Regalado. Ashley and Lynn sometimes laughed as they recalled moments from Klinetobe's childhood and Klinetobe, sitting handcuffed in a chair, would occasionally smile and lean over to whisper to his other defense lawyer.
The family members said they had no knowledge of Klinetobe's involvement in the murder until he was arrested ? and would have turned him in if they had ? and didn't do anything to cover it up. Prosecutors and Rehfeld's loved ones previously said that Klinetobe's friends and family lied for him.
Lynn also testified that her son never asked her to provide an alibi after prosecutors said Klinetobe told Hirth and Schneider that his mother had agreed to cover for them.
Lynn said Klinetobe is the oldest of four children and the family moved from state to state as her ex-husband, Ben, tried to provide for them financially. But he couldn't pay the bills so they were evicted several times or had their utilities turned off.
Lynn and Ashley testified to Ben's extreme physical and emotional abuse towards them and Klinetobe.
"We went through hell" but he wasn't abusive to his two biological children, Ashley said.
She and Lynn said Ben would call Klinetobe stupid and worthless, and tell him he wouldn't amount to anything and shouldn't be alive. They said Ben hit Klinetobe with a belt, once beat him in public when he had a bathroom accident, and was finally arrested after he tried to hit the family with his truck after Lynn served him with divorce papers and a protection order.
Klinetobe was also attacked by bullies in school, received rug burn after a teacher (who was later fired) sat on him, and was repeatedly locked in a carpeted closet when he acted out in school, they said.
Lynn said her son was slow to meet developmental milestones and she enrolled him in therapy after he tried to choke Ashley with a phone cord when he was five years old. She said he tried to kill himself when he was eight or nine.
Klinetobe attended therapy and went through several inpatient treatments throughout his childhood, Lynn said. He's been on many medications for ADHD and bipolar disorder but they would only work for about six months before he would regress and doctors would have to adjust the medicine.
Lynn and Ashley said Klinetobe loved his family, was remorseful when he hurt people, and had a "huge heart." But they said he struggled in school, has always been immature, couldn't pass his driver's license test, lied and told fake stories, and had to rely on friends and family for money since he couldn't hold down a job and lost his disability payments after he failed to show up for medication, therapy and other appointments.
Duane said Klinetobe lashed out when he was angry like Ben did, and he thinks Klinetobe thought that behavior was masculine.
Ashley became defensive of her brother when cross-examined by Lara Roetzel, chief deputy at the Pennington County State's Attorney Office.
"What does this have to do with this" case, she asked when questioned about wrestling matches with her brother before the judge told her to answer the question.
Ashley said the wresting sometimes resulted in them both receiving bruises. And she said Klinetobe felt horrible and cried for hours after he once stabbed her with a fork when they were fighting.
She said her family always called Klinetobe out when he did bad things but he isn't fully at fault due to his childhood abuse and bipolar disorder.
Lynn admitted to Roetzel that her son punched holes into walls, set his bed on fire when he was five, and was sometimes prone to violence and could be uncaring about people's feelings. She admitted to telling Klinetobe during jail phone calls that she thought a woman was involved in the murder and to keep his mouth shut about what he knew since there was a gag order. But as Roetzel referenced psychological records, Lynn denied ever reporting that her son sang songs about shooting children or was aggressive towards women. She said she couldn't remember if her Klinetobe once said he would kill a neighbor if he could.
On Thursday the defense is calling a psychiatrist to testify about Klinetobe and the prosecution may call rebuttal witnesses. If there is time, both sides will also make their case about what kind of sentence Klinetobe deserves.
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/lo...7ad5ce995f97b8
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/lo...home-top-story
The Sturgis man who ordered and helped plan the May 2015 kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Jonathan Klinetobe, 30, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in in September to aiding and abetting the first-degree manslaughter of Jessica Rehfeld, his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend from Rapid City who filed a police report and protection order against him shortly before she was killed.
The sentencing came after four days of arguments and testimony from lawyers, mental health professionals, and Rehfeld and Klinetobe's family members.
"It's a complete victory. He'll never be able to do this to another woman," Misty Rehfeld, Jessica's sister, said outside the state court in Rapid City.
Klinetobe hired Richard Hirth and David Schneider, both of Rapid City, to kidnap and kill Rehfeld before he helped them bury her in the woods near Rockerville on May 18, 2015, prosecutors said. He then hired Garland Brown and Michael Frye, both of Rapid City, two weeks later to help him dig up Rehfeld's body from the shallow grave and bury her deeper into the woods and farther underground.
Klinetobe also told his accomplices not to tell the police about the murder, lied when he was interviewed about Rehfeld's disappearance, lied to Rehfeld's friends and family and tried to blame her current boyfriend, and kept Rehfeld's necklace, purse and other items as trophies, Judge Heidi Linngren said.
Rehfeld was considered a missing person "not in immediate harm" by the Rapid City Police Department until it announced in May 2016 that an informant led them to her makeshift grave in the woods near Rockerville.
Wow, there's a lot to unwrap here. I'm glad the death penalty is off the table, though. I don't know anything about this area or the dynamics of this particular group of acquaintances, but it has a familiar feel and hits a little close to home. Are there indications that any of these folks are vulnerable, Puzzld?
You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...
The Rehfeld family are friends of friends. A "normal" everyday type of family. Good friends, etc. The exboyfriend? How much of what we say now is colored by our knowledge of what he set in motion. He's apparently able to tell wild tales and get gullible people to believe them. He was apparently not able to pass a drivers test to get a dl. The actual killers? Well they are greedy enough to kill someone who never did them any harm to try to get money from the Hell's Angels, so gullible and cold blooded. All of the killers/body movers had jobs at places like Best Buy and various chain restaurants so, maybe not geniuses, but not so slow they couldn't sell computers, etc. One of the first questions we had when it came out that Kleintobe hired killers was "where in the hell did the think he was getting the kind of money it takes to pay for something like this." So yeah.
The Rehfelds just wanted the whole gang to be locked up and to never have to deal with them again. No appeals, no parole hearings, etc. and so the lwop with a guilty plea does that, so the best possible outcome of a bunch of bad choices. Still several more trials, and one of the people accused of actually having the weapon in his hands is still being evaluated for fitness to stand trial. But Kleintobes whole family was up to their necks trying to help him cover this up and I think they deserve punishment they aren't going to get.
The gullibility factor is kind of what I was getting at. I had an experience with a woman - let's call her Cee - who surrounded herself with vulnerable and gullible people who blindly did her bidding. These were grown adults who were functional enough to be out in the working world, living in groups, driving cars, even having children in one case - but they were signing their paychecks over to Cee and she gave them allowances. My own conversations with them revealed stunning levels of naivete. The group was involved in a lot of shady activity to include welfare and insurance fraud, theft, elderly abuse, etc. planned and organized by Cee and unknowingly executed by group members. I firmly believe Cee is guilty of murder (or negligent homicide at the very least), but investigators were unable to prove it. Cee seems to actively seek out vulnerable people, isolates them from their families, and pulls them into her schemes - but she is so manipulative, and they are so gullible, they don't realize what they are doing. If I hadn't been personally involved in this case, I don't think I'd be able to believe adults could be so easily manipulated. It was sad and scary and heartbreaking. I just wonder if we're dealing with something like that here.
You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/lo...7ad5ce995f97b8
A judge struggled Wednesday to sentence a Rapid City man who helped in the 2015 kidnap and murder of Jessica Rehfeld.
David Schneider failed to report the murder-for-hire, held Rehfeld down as she was stabbed to death on May 18, 2015, helped bury the 22-year-old, lied to police when asked later that month if he knew what happened to her, and never reported the killing until he was arrested, Judge Heidi Linngren and Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo said during the hearing.
On the other hand, they said, Schneider had a lesser role in the killing and once he was arrested in May 2016, he confessed everything, including information that helped secure the conviction of the mastermind behind the killing. The Eagle Scout, Air Force veteran and church-going 28-year-old also hasn't tried to downplay his role, has no previous criminal history, and has been well-behaved and helpful to others during the nearly four years he's spent in the Pennington County Jail.
"Everyone is perplexed" and can't explain why Schneider agreed to participate in the killing, said Greg Erlandson, his defense lawyer.
After taking about 30 minutes to consider the case in her office, Linngren returned to court and sentenced Schneider to 75 years in prison for aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter. She could have sentenced him to up to life in prison without the chance of parole.
Schneider will receive credit for time served and be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence. He also owes $4,176 in restitution to the Rehfeld family.
Schneider was initially charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder and pleaded guilty in January 2017 to the murder charge. The plea deal spared him the death penalty and would have meant he would be given a mandatory life sentence. But Vargo and Linngren let him change his plea in September 2018 to the lesser manslaughter charge. Vargo said he can't comment on the reasons behind the initial and changed pleas.
Case history
Jonathan Klinetobe, Rehfeld's abusive and possessive ex-boyfriend, hired Schneider and Richard Hirth to kidnap, kill and bury Rehfeld after making up a story about how the Hell's Angels would pay them for the killing since she had information on the motorcycle gang.
Rehfeld was considered a missing person "not in immediate harm" until police announced a year after her disappearance that an informant ? revealed in December 2019 to be a woman who drove Klinetobe to visit the burial site several times ? led them to a makeshift grave near Rockerville in May 2016.
Rehfeld's killing was "by far one of the most troublesome cases I've been part of," said Linngren, who's judged, prosecuted and defended murder cases over her career.
Most people who commit such crimes have previous criminal history, are addicted to alcohol or drugs, or had an abusive childhood like Klinetobe but "none of these difficulties apply to you," she told Schneider.
You seem to be a good person and your background should have led you to report the murder plot, Linngren said. But instead "you did the worst thing" possible you can do to another person.
"I think it's a fair sentence," Misty Rehfeld, Jessica's sister, said of Linngren's decision. Misty said it's always difficult to relive the case but the hearing wasn't as upsetting as Klinetobe's four-day sentencing in December.
Klinetobe was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter. Garland Brown and Michael Frye pleaded guilty in 2016 to being an accessory to the murder for helping Klinetobe dig up, move and re-bury Rehfeld. Brown has been released from prison after receiving a four-year sentence while Frye, who is out on bond, is awaiting sentencing.
Hirth, who is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes, is expected to return to court April 16 for a hearing to help Linngren decide whether he is mentally competent to proceed with the case. Doctors at the state mental health hospital say Hirth's competency has been restored while a doctor hired by his lawyers say he is is still incompetent.
"We're anxious for it to be over, of course," Misty said of Hirth's pending case. We're "having to relieve it again which is a nightmare."
Perplexing decision
Rehfeld "begged and pleaded" for her life and was "aware of her impending death" as Schneider held her down inside a car as Hirth stabbed her, Vargo said. The men rejected her requests to call her boyfriend and father to say goodbye, as well as her final wish to look at the stars.
Schneider was "present for all of that" and did nothing to stop it, Vargo said. "At that moment the money (promised to him) was more important to him than Jessica's life," Vargo said Schneider admitted.
Schneider visited Rehfeld's grave to pray for her and appears to have been filled with guilt between the killing and his arrest, Vargo said. Yet "neither his prayers or his remorse was enough" to make him come forward to law enforcement, Vargo said. And each day not knowing what happened to Rehfeld was an "additional day of suffering for" her family.
Once Schneider was arrested, Vargo said, he at first lied by saying he and Hirth dropped Rehfeld off at her job at Walmart on May 18, 2015.
But he then came clean, providing information that "allowed us to obtain the conviction and life sentence for Mr. Klinetobe," Vargo said. Schneider also feels remorse and played a lesser role than Hirth and Klinetobe.
"How do you balance" all of these factors into a fair sentence? Vargo asked.
Vargo asked for a 90-year-sentence, which means Schneider would have been eligible for parole after 45 years when he's 69 ? a sentence he said reflects the seriousness of the crime while giving Schneider the chance to eventually participate in life outside of prison.
Misty and her relatives decided not to speak at the hearing since Linngren already heard their emotional testimony during Klinetobe's sentencing.
Schneider's parents tearfully apologized to the Rehfeld family and said there's no excuse for their son's out-of-character behavior.
He's a "good man who let bad choices overpower him," his father Joseph said. He exhibited a "lack of courage" in not stopping and reporting the killing.
Miranda, Schneider's mother, said that while her son is a "people pleaser" that others could take advantage of, there was "never anything" from his past that could predict he would someday agree to help kill someone.
Miranda said her son is a religious man and supportive older brother who's spent his time in jail helping other inmates with their court papers and calming them down when they become agitated.
Schneider looked at the Rehfeld family as he read from a hand-written apology.
I want to "atone for my choices" and "wish I could make your family whole again," he said.
Erlandson asked for a 30-year prison sentence for his client, who he said has no criminal or traumatic background like most of his clients, who also often try to downplay their role.
Schneider "came clean" once he was arrested and detectives wrote that he'd "gotten roped into something he otherwise wouldn't have done," Erlandson said. Plus, Hirth told detectives that he had to manipulate and convince Schneider to participate.
But Schneider hasn't once blamed Hirth or others for his own actions, Erlandson said. And the only times he's gotten in trouble in jail were for having too many books and sharing food with another inmate.
https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/news-and-...ot-conviction/
A South Dakota inmate serving life without parole is asking the South Dakota Supreme Court to overturn his sentence.
Jonathon Klinetobe was charged with masterminding the plot that resulted in the 2015 murder of his former girlfriend in Rapid City. He agreed to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and left it up to the judge to determine his sentence.
At oral arguments on Tuesday, Jan. 12, his attorney said the life sentence violates Klinetobe's Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.
Jonathan Klinetobe is represented by Elizabeth Regalado, a Pennington County Public Defender. She tells justices that Klinetobe admitted to first-degree manslaughter, but received the same sentence he?d have faced for murder.
?So essentially, Mr K bargains for a lesser charge and the state agrees to that lesser charge, and yet when he?s punished, he?s punished as though he is still being convicted of a Class A or B felony.?
Regalado says Judge Heidi Linngren abused judicial discretion by imposing life and did not factor in Klinetobe?s intellectual disability and childhood abuse.
?The court actually violated the legislative intent of the statute and? that reserves the most severe sanctions for the most serious combination of offenders and offenses.?
The state contends that Klinetobe meets those criteria.
Assistant Attorney General Paul Swedlund says Klinetobe, at sentencing, said he was sorry for orchestrating the victim?s death and would accept whatever penalty the judge imposed.
"A defendant who in a ploy for leniency says that he will accept his sentencing with no intent of doing so if the sentence displeases him is thinking on a level? and thinking ahead and planning on a level above intellectual disability.?
Swedlund says the judge heard four days of testimony before sentencing Klinetobe and took into account his marginal IQ, as well as his sociopathy and chances of rehabilitation.
?Though Mr K did not have a significant criminal history, he did have a long history of sociopathic behavior, including preoccupation with violence, death, aggression towards females, fire starting and cruelty to animals.?
Swedlund notes that in the year after the victim?s death, four separate women applied for protections orders against Klinetobe.
Justices will issue an opinion at a later date.
Fuck you, asshole. You did the fucking crime, you buck up and do the fucking time.
You can die in prison for all society gives a shit. You had choices. You chose poorly. Fuck you, always. Your case deserves no review. You earned your sentence. Jessica doesn't get a say, so the judge spoke for her, and for her family.
Fuck you, and every one of the people who helped you, who knew what you did and said nothing, who remain supportive of you.
You can all fucking die.
Don't like what I have to say? I respect that. Go fuck yourself.
Dammit, I can't edit my posts, but Jonathan is one seeeeeriously ugly motherfucker. Damn
Yeah, I think Klinetobe's sentence is appropriate. I don't care what kind of "intellectual disability" he has, if he's capable of doing something like this, he's right where he belongs.
You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...
I feel so sorry for Jessica's family. They lost a wonderful daughter not just to Klinetobe and his stupid, evil friends and family. Jessica was one of several women who went to the cops and the courts for protection and got ... nothing. When she disappeared the cops did a very cursory investigation and decided she must have left on her own. Once one of the morons talked and the whole mess came to light, the family agreed with the plea deal because he would just disappear into the penal system. He won't be able to appeal. And here we are. He's seeing the light of day. Again.
The trial of Richard Hirth, 42, for the murder of Jessica Anne Rehfeld is set to begin, bringing to a close a case eight years in the making.
What began as a missing person?s search in May of 2015 suddenly became a murder-for-hire investigation involving five people a year later.
According to court documents Jessica Rehfeld, then 22 years old, left Jonathan Klinetobe, then 25, a month prior to her murder and sought a protection order against him due to numerous threats carried through phone calls and over social media.
Enraged by the protection order, Klinetobe allegedly contacted Hirth and convinced him to murder Rehfeld on his behalf ? falsely claiming she had an 80,000 dollar bounty from the Hells Angels. Hirth allegedly enlisted David Schneider, then 23, to help him carry out the murder. They leveraged their friendship with Rehfeld to offer her a ride to work and lure her into a vehicle.
According to the appeal in Klinetobes case ? the facts of which were largely informed by Schneider?s own testimony ? instead of taking her to work Scheider drove onto a secluded service road outside of Rapid City, where documents say, he held down Rehfeld while Hirth stabbed her to death in an attack that lasted 20 minutes.
Schneider and Hirth would allegedly then bury Rehfeld in a shallow grave outside of Rockerville, after which court documents said Klinetobe would get Michael Frye, then 23, and Garland Brown, then 28, to help him re-bury her body.
Authorities would find Rehfeld?s body a year later after a woman Klinetobe was in a relationship with left a tip with the Newcastle police about the location of her grave ? saying that Klinetobe would frequently visit the grave site and told her she would be next if she ever told anyone about the crime.
After locating her body and the two graves, police arrested and charged the five people involved. Brown was the first to be sentenced in 2016, receiving 4 years as an accessory.
In 2019 Klinetobe pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to life without parole. He then filed an appeal ? which was denied ? and his sentence was upheld by the state supreme court in 2021.
Then in 2020 Schneider pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter and received a 75-year sentence. Frye later pleaded guilty to being an accessory to first-degree murder, for which he received a 5 year suspended sentence.
Hirth is the only person who will be formally tried for the crime. His trial will take part in two phases, the first to determine guilt, and the second to determine his sanity at the time of the murder.
https://www.newscenter1.tv/news/rich...455fe8c30.html
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