Saliva On Postage Stamp Could Help Convict Man Experts Say Dna Crucial To Sealing Conviction In Bizarre Idaho Murder

A birthday card and a postage stamp.

It doesn’t sound like compelling evidence against the man accused of killing Bonner County resident Paul Gruber, a retired school teacher.

But authorities say those items link Darryl Kuehl to the 1994 murder, and tie him to an elaborate plot to cover up Gruber’s death after he was shot and buried under his home.

Investigators say handwriting in the card and DNA from saliva on a postage stamp will help seal a conviction and end one of the county’s most bizarre murder cases.

A trial expected to last 30 days starts Monday for Kuehl, 46, who faces the death penalty. Kuehl insists he is innocent.

Prosecutors plan to present a lot of evidence, from the postage stamp and bullets found in Gruber’s body to a plot by Kuehl to escape from jail and kill three detectives.

Prosecutors also have videotapes. One made with a hidden camera shows Kuehl picking up Gruber’s mail at the post office after he was killed. A more gruesome recording shows detectives with teaspoons, unearthing Gruber’s decomposed body from a hidden grave.

“We have worked a couple of years to put all the pieces together in this very mysterious homicide, and the tenacity of investigators is the reason why this has come together,” said Bonner County Sheriff Chip Roos.

However, one of Kuehl’s two attorneys, Everett Hofmeister, said court records show only one side of the case.

“Fingerprints, ballistic tests, DNA, it all remains to be seen at trial what value it is,” he said. “It’s going to be a very long affair.”

Attorneys and investigators on both sides declined to talk in any detail because of the upcoming trial. Hofmeister was concerned news stories about the evidence could taint and bias potential jurors.

Gruber, 53, was shot at least three times in his Muskrat Lake home. His body was wrapped in a plastic air mattress and buried 4 feet under his house. Gruber’s relatives reported him missing, but it was 17 months before authorities found his remains.

To try to cover up Gruber’s death, authorities said, his murderer replaced bloody carpet in Gruber’s home, collected his mail, paid bills and even sent Gruber’s relatives greeting cards. One card went to Gruber’s daughter, Shellie Kepley, who lives out of state.

Detectives saved the card, and examined it for Kuehl’s fingerprints. They found nothing. But a detective surmised whoever sent the card might have licked the postage stamp. A DNA test on the dried glue and saliva matched the DNA of a blood sample drawn from Kuehl. A handwriting expert also verified the card was written and signed by Kuehl, not Gruber, according to court records.

“As this case unfolds you are going to find Mr. Kuehl is a very together type of guy on how he went about this,” said Roos. “But he made some small errors along the way that have become very significant. Through modern forensics some astounding things have been found.”

Kuehl was an acquaintance of Gruber’s who did some work at his home and tried to get Gruber to invest in what authorities say was a bogus business. When Gruber suddenly disappeared, Kuehl became a prime suspect.

A search of Kuehl’s home turned up dozens of items missing from Gruber’s residence, including a 25-foot boat, a truck, tools, televisions, videotapes, a cellular telephone and a gun. They also recovered forged checks Kuehl wrote to himself on Gruber’s account.

An undercover operation and a hidden camera installed at the Sagle post office later showed Kuehl picking up Gruber’s mail. At that time authorities still hadn’t found Gruber’s body and didn’t arrest Kuehl, but questioned him.

Kuehl has maintained his innocence and at first even denied knowing Gruber. When authorities showed him a photo of Gruber, he claimed that was not the man he worked for. Kuehl insisted the man he met must have been an impostor, posing as Paul Gruber.

A police sketch artist had Kuehl describe the Gruber he knew. The final drawing closely resembled the sketch artist.

A woman who was friends with Kuehl and his wife Kristine, later confirmed the couple knew Gruber. The friend was asked to destroy one of Gruber’s gun cases the Kuehls had. The woman burned it. At the request of Kristine Kuehl, the woman also tossed Gruber’s briefcase, with papers and a video camera inside, into a local landfill, according to a state investigator’s report.

Soon after, the landfill was permanently closed by the county because it didn’t meet EPA standards. Detectives got permission and $50,000 to dig up the sealed dump and recover the evidence. After four days of sifting through tons of garbage, they found the briefcase.

“We were ready to take this case to court without a body,” Roos said. “There was plenty of indication (Gruber) was deceased and of who did it.”

But in August 1995, Gruber’s body was found under his home, which had been searched dozens of times, even with cadaver-sniffing dogs. A deputy happened to stumble into a sinkhole in the crawl space while looking for clues. The ground settled where Gruber was buried, and detectives dug up the decomposed body with trowels and teaspoons to preserve evidence.

Four bullets were found with Gruber’s body. A crime lab report showed two of the bullets were “deformed,” by being shot through a silencer. A .22-caliber pistol confiscated from Kuehl had a silencer mounted on it. Test firing of the gun showed the bullets closely matched those found in Gruber’s body, according to court records.

Kuehl finally was arrested in May 1996 in Gig Harbor, Wash., two years after Gruber was murdered. He fought being moved to Idaho to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge.

While in a Washington jail, Kuehl talked to his cellmate about murdering Gruber and asked for help in escaping, court records show. Kuehl and his cellmate, who was about to be released, brainstormed several plans. One involved finding a transient, giving him details of the Gruber murder and videotaping a confession to clear Kuehl.

The plan they settled on was freeing Kuehl while he was transported from Washington to Idaho. Kuehl told his cellmate that meant killing the three detectives who would drive him to Idaho. The inmate told authorities about the escape attempt and was encouraged to go along with it to get more evidence against Kuehl, according to court records.

For helping him escape, Kuehl agreed to pay the informer $1,000 and give him two vehicles. When he was released from jail, the informer arranged a meeting with Kuehl’s wife. She delivered the cash and vehicles to the informer who was with two undercover officers.

While authorities suspect Kuehl’s wife helped cover up the murder and was part of the escape plan, she never was arrested. Darryl Kuehl is being held in the Bonner County Jail and also faces grand theft and forgery charges.

“As all of the evidence comes out as this case unfolds, it’s just going to astound people,” Roos said. “This has been one bizarre tale.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 photos (1 color)