Burkheimer’s death detailed

This evidence is clear on this much:

Rachel Burkheimer was killed in September 2002 because she’d made somebody angry. She also knew for hours that the end was near.

A Snohomish County Superior Court jury on Monday was given disturbing details of the 18-year-old’s death and differing theories on who was responsible.

Deputy prosecutor Michael Downes put blame squarely on Yusef "Kevin" Jihad, 34, of Everett.

Jihad’s attorney, Mickey Krom, said Burkheimer’s former boyfriend, John Phillip Anderson, 22, was chiefly to blame.

"The evidence will be clear my client didn’t kill anybody," Krom said.

Jihad went on trial Monday, charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy.

In opening statements, Downes described Jihad as the leader of an Everett-based criminal group whose members had once been friends with Burkheimer, but had since become suspicious about her loyalties.

Jihad and the rest believed Burkheimer was allied with the leader of a rival criminal group, the prosecutor said. He told jurors there will be testimony from five members of the group, all of whom have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the case. All will testify that Jihad put in motion the events that led to Burkheimer’s death, Downes said.

The plan was for Burkheimer to be brought to the duplex that Jihad shared with his girlfriend in Everett, and once there, for her to be brutalized just enough to scare her into remaining loyal to the organization, Downes said.

But Anderson and the others attacked Burkheimer with too much force, and Jihad worried she would tell police if set free, Downes said.

The prosecutor told jurors that Jihad didn’t directly participate in the killing, but there will be testimony about Jihad instructing Anderson to take Burkheimer someplace and finish what he’d begun.

"That’s what happened," Downes said. "They took her someplace. And they finished it."

Krom countered that Jihad didn’t plan an attack on Burkheimer and that Jihad was shocked when Anderson suddenly began punching her and then ordered her bound and gagged.

Anderson was jealous of Burkheimer’s interest in other men, and while he tried to convince others that his dislike for her was somehow connected to issues that involved the rest, her killing was really a case of domestic violence, Krom said.

"The bottom line was he was jealous of the fact that Rachel was involved with other people and he couldn’t stand it," Krom said.

Krom urged jurors to listen for inconsistencies in the statements of the five people who have already pleaded guilty of crimes in connection with Burkheimer’s kidnapping and death. He said he would go over the numerous statements they made to police, raising a question of their truth on the witness stand.

The prosecution’s case is based on accusations from "unreliable and untruthful people" who told police numerous versions of the story in an attempt to negotiate the best deal, the defense attorney said.

Krom was silent about the specifics of how Burkheimer died. The prosecutor spared little.

He told jurors how the Marysville teen was knocked on the floor with a punch, then kicked when she was down. He talked about how one member of the gang turned up the stereo to drown out her screams and then went looking for duct tape to cover her mouth.

The prosecutor said Burkheimer was kept bound in the garage at Jihad’s home for at least two hours.

"Rachel is awake. She’s been hit. She has a black eye, but she can hear what is going on," Downes said.

Evidence will show that Burkheimer heard people talking about ways of killing her, including discussion about strangulation. One member of the group, Maurice Rivas, 19, has told investigators that she begged him to make sure her death would be quick, by gunshot, instead of something slow, such as drowning, Downes said.

Burkheimer was just less than 5 feet tall and weighed less than 100 pounds. She fit inside a large duffel bag that was used to carry her to the scene of her death in the Cascade Mountain foothills near Gold Bar.

Anderson struck Burkheimer with a shovel while she was still in the duffel bag. She was ordered to disrobe and climb into a hastily drug grave, Downes said.

"Rachel is on her knees, staring up at the sky," the prosecutor said.

Downes said witnesses will testify that Anderson told Burkheimer "You just keep staring up there. You are going to be there soon."

Then Anderson began firing with a 9mm handgun, shooting the teen several times in the head and back, Downes said.

Jihad didn’t know what would happen, Krom insisted.

"This was something not expected. It wasn’t supposed to happen," Krom said. "All he wanted (Anderson) to do was to take his domestic dispute elsewhere."

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