Rachel Burkheimer was killed on the order of Yusef "Kevin" Jihad in September 2002 after she stopped dating a member of one crime gang and started associating with rivals, lawyers said Tuesday.

The revelation came after a guilty plea Tuesday by Jeffrey Scott Barth, 23, of Everett in the shooting death of Burkheimer, 18, of Marysville.

The new information came at the start of Barth’s scheduled trial for murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. Prosecutors say Barth’s testimony could open the door for a long-sought motive for the killing.

Jihad told Barth that he ordered the death of the woman, deputy prosecutor Michael Downes told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer.

Barth has agreed to testify against the remaining three defendants in the case.

Burkheimer was lured to a south Everett duplex where Jihad lived. She was bound and beaten for at least three hours, prosecutors contend. Jihad’s girlfriend came home and sent the attackers away.

Burkheimer then was stuffed into a large sports bag and driven to the Cascade Range foothills near Gold Bar, where she was shot to death.

She was the former girlfriend of John Anderson, 21, of Everett, who is accused of aggravated murder in her death and was one of the members of what Downes recently termed "a stupid little Snohomish County crime family."

Prosecutors believe Burkheimer may have been kidnapped and beaten because she was associating with a rival gang.

While fleeing to California after the murder, Jihad told Barth that Anderson had kidnapped and beaten Burkheimer, and once he started it, Anderson would "have to finish it," Downes told Allendoerfer Tuesday.

Barth spent several days with prosecutors and detectives, telling them his story before Downes agreed to drop murder and conspiracy charges and let Barth plead guilty to kidnapping if he would testify. Barth also consulted with members of his family, defense attorney John Henry Browne of Seattle said.

The plea caused a month’s delay in Jihad’s homicide trial because Downes on Tuesday served notice that he now intends to increase the charges against Jihad to aggravated murder.

If convicted of aggravated murder, Jihad would be sentenced to prison for life without the possibility of release. Downes told the judge that prosecutors don’t intend to seek the death penalty.

Anderson and a third defendant, John Whitaker, 23, of Everett are already charged with aggravated murder and face life without release if convicted. Trials for Anderson and Whitaker are scheduled for March and April.

Jihad’s attorney, Mickey Krom of Everett, protested the last-minute filing of the aggravated murder charge and told Allendoerfer he would need more time to prepare the case.

The judge said he would let the attorneys argue on Feb. 20 whether the prosecutor could increase the severity of the charge on the eve of the scheduled trial.

He gave Krom until March 8 to prepare for Jihad’s trial, and a new jury panel will be summoned for then.

When asked why he wants to increase the charges, Downes referred to Barth, saying: "There’s new information. We have a new witness that was previously unavailable to us."

Krom said the prosecutor shouldn’t be able to file the new charge, which cites kidnapping and robbery as aggravating factors.

With the late developments, the judge wasn’t about to let Jihad’s trial continue this week.

"I’m seriously concerned about prejudicing the rights of Mr. Jihad if we proceed to trial now," Allendoerfer told the lawyers.

Browne said his client is expected to testify that Burkheimer was kidnapped and beaten because she was suspected of associating with a rival criminal group.

He said Jihad fancied himself the head of a group of criminals that once planned to rob a pharmacy of all its narcotics. When the group arrived, however, the place was closed, so the robbery never happened.

If Barth had been convicted of the original murder charge, he faced a minimum of 25 years behind bars. Under Barth’s plea, he faces up to 11 years, but no fewer than 117 months, or more than nine years.

When Allendoerfer asked Barth if he knew how long 117 months is in years, the defendant answered correctly: three months shy of a decade.

"Right," the judge said. "You’ve done the math."

Barth’s plea makes him the fifth of eight defendants in the Burkheimer case to plead guilty and agree to testify against the others.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.