Denise Webber, Bill Burkheimer and Meghan Burkheimer are living through the third, and final, trial against men accused of killing Rachel Burkheimer. The Herald is telling one family member’s story each day as the trial progresses.
Bill Burkheimer was finally able to watch the videotapes again, the ones spanning the 18 years of his daughter Rachel ‘s life.
Rachel smiled. She laughed. She danced. Her eyes lit up the screen. Those eyes lit up her father’s face.
“I felt like she was more alive than ever,” said Burkheimer, 52, of Marysville.
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State vs. John Whitaker
Here is what occurred Thursday in Snohomish County Superior Court in the trial of John Alan Whitaker, 23, the final person to face murder charges in the death of Rachel Burkheimer. Prosecution: Deputy prosecutors Michael Downes and Julie Mohr began calling witnesses to outline the structure of the gang that called itself the Northwest Mafia. The Everett-based crime ring supported itself through robbery and drug crimes. Some of its members kidnapped and killed Burkheimer.
Defense: Attorney John Muenster challenged the prosecution’s evidence. He repeatedly questioned the relevance of references to the gang and his client’s involvement.
“This whole Northwest Mafia stuff was in a different orbit” during the previous two trials, he said. Witnesses: Nicholas Pulley, a friend of Burkheimer, said she became “very upset” after a short meeting with two men at a party just days before her death.
Jennifer Vink testified about her connections to the Northwest Mafia, including a botched attempt to rob a pharmacy, and to burglarize the home of a suspected drug dealer. |
Seeing her again on the screen at his home gave him what he needed Wednesday to tell a new group of strangers something about his murdered girl. It also helps him control his emotions enough to sit through a third round of witnesses giving lengthy accounts of her suffering and death.
His testimony Wednesday was the last time Burkheimer will have to identify for a jury a picture of Rachel’s car or talk about her poor choice of friends in her final months.
He hopes to never again see her Marysville-Pilchuck High School senior class portrait flashed on a screen, with deputy prosecutor Michael Downes asking him to identify the girl.
“My daughter, Rachel,” was all he could say Wednesday, through tears.
Burkheimer was the first witness in the trial of John Whitaker, the third murder trial involving his daughter’s death. Whitaker is the last of eight defendants accused in her kidnapping and death. All seven of the others have either pleaded guilty or been convicted.
He dreaded testifying and hardly recalled the answers and questions when he testified at the first trial in March. His emotions overwhelmed him in the second trial in May.
Testifying reminded him of playing football in high school. There are butterflies.
“But once you get in and have the first hit, you settle down,” he said.
This was different. This was the last time. “And that’s a good feeling,” he said.
Almost word for word, he knew what Downes would ask. He tensed from not knowing what defense attorney John Muenster would ask.
“Mr. Burkheimer, we are sorry for your loss,” Muenster said, and that was it. He asked no questions, unlike the defense attorneys in the two previous trials, and didn’t prolong the agony.
Burkheimer was relieved, but could not accept the condolences.
Every day, his fiance, Lori Pursley, has sat beside him in the courtroom’s second row. His older daughter Meghan also was beside him until her son Julius was born during the last trial. Both of his sisters and both of his brothers have often been nearby. Rachel Burkheimer’s mother, Denise Webber, also has been there.
On Thursday, the family’s pain could be measured by the lineup of tissue boxes on the floor in front of their seats.
The family is “a small army of support for Rachel,” Burkheimer said. “Rachel is our leader in this case. We follow her lead and draw strength from her.”
That’s the feeling he had after testifying on Wednesday, when the family got together to celebrate his sister Barbara Hard’s birthday. Hard lives in Buffalo, N.Y., and flies out during the trials to be with her brother.
“In a way, Rachel has brought us all together,” Burkheimer said, “and that’s really a good thing.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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