Details emerge in teen’s killing

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 19, 2004

EVERETT — The sounds of grief built slowly in the courtroom Friday.

First somebody choked off a sob. Then there was soft sniffling. Finally the air filled with weeping as the family and friends of Rachel Rose Burkheimer listened for the first time as an eyewitness described the 18-year-old’s murder.

The tears came as Matthew Durham, 19, of Lynnwood testified about driving Burkheimer from an Everett home to the scene of her shooting death near Gold Bar in September 2002.

Durham, who has already pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, told jurors that he went along with other members of an Everett-based crime group and followed orders to bring Burkheimer to the home of Yusef "Kevin" Jihad, 34, who is on trial for aggravated murder.

Before that afternoon was out, Burkheimer was bound and gagged and stuffed into a duffel bag in the back of Durham’s jeep. Durham drove Burkheimer and three young men into the Cascade Mountain foothills, where she was repeatedly shot and left in a hastily dug grave.

Durham, who was a Lynnwood High School senior at the time, said he went along because he was threatened with being put "in a coffin" himself.

At the same time, under questioning by Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Michael Downes, Durham acknowledged that he passed up opportunities when he could have taken steps to save Burkheimer’s life.

Why, Downes asked at one point, did Durham simply go into a convenience store and pay for gas while Burkheimer and the others waited in the car? Why didn’t he ask somebody in the store to call 911 or toss away his car keys?

Durham’s brow furrowed. His eyes darted around the room. He shook his head, then shrugged.

"I don’t know," he said.

Durham on Friday provided hints, but few clear details, about Jihad’s involvement in Burkheimer’s fate. Jihad faces life in prison without possibility of release if convicted.

Prosecutors say Jihad ordered Burkheimer’s killing because he believed she would go to police after being attacked in his home.

Durham said Jihad was angry when Burkheimer was attacked in the living room, tied up and then held in the garage. At one point, Jihad yelled at John Anderson, 22, the man accused of attacking and later shooting Burkheimer, Durham said.

"He said they had a plan," Durham said. "I don’t know what their plan was."

Durham is scheduled to continue testifying late Monday morning. Judge James Allendoerfer has set aside time to first deal with a request from Jihad that he be allowed to fire his attorney, Mickey Krom, and continue without legal counsel.

Jihad has previously attempted to act as his own attorney and has complained about his relationship with Krom.

Allendoerfer told Jihad to sleep on his decision over the weekend. He has a right to proceed without counsel, but would be foolish to do so, the judge said. The judge said Krom has been doing a good job and called Jihad’s request "fraught with risks."

Earlier Friday, it was Jihad’s girlfriend’s turn to explain why she didn’t call police.

Trissa Conner, 26, said she yelled at Anderson, Durham and others to get Burkheimer out of her house after she encountered the Marysville teenager bound with duct tape and ropes in her garage. She told jurors she tried to free Burkheimer, but Anderson stopped her.

A few minutes later, she saw Burkheimer being carried from the home in a large, black sports bag.

Why didn’t she call the police?

"I was too scared," Conner told jurors, saying she feared Anderson and worried he might come back to harm her.

Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.