Prosecutor Says Killers Lured Man From Party Murder Trial Begins With Description Of Plot To Kill Yakima Man For Money, Drugs

Jorge Isais Gonzalez Garcia went to a party with three friends and left with his killers, prosecutors said Tuesday.

After drinking with his buddies for about an hour at a Rathdrum apartment, two of the men Garcia came with allegedly hatched a ruse to lure him to a remote field south of Silverwood Theme Park and rob him.

Eli Chaney, the third friend, said Tuesday that he unwittingly acted as a driver in the plot.

“They had convinced Jorge and Eli that they were going to pick up some girls,” said Rick Baughman, Kootenai County deputy prosecutor.

Instead, sheriff’s detectives say Dutch Renecker shot Garcia to death on Jan. 6 while Franklin “Murdoc” Johnson pinned him down in the snow along an access road.

Renecker, 19, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery in the January slaying and mutilation of the 25-year-old Yakima man. His attorney, Everett Hofmeister, will make his opening statement after prosecutors finish presenting evidence in the trial that began Tuesday.

Kootenai County sheriff’s Sgt. Jerry Wiedenhoff said a cadaver dog found Garcia’s body a week after he had been shot. Garcia had been stripped of most of his clothing and his head cut “in an apparent attempt to scalp him,” Baughman said during opening statements.

Johnson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder in October. Johnson, who accepted an Alford plea, meaning he did not admit guilt, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

The 30-year-old Rathdrum man was carrying the semi-automatic pistol used to kill Garcia and wearing Garcia’s athletic shoes when detectives arrested him, Wiedenhoff said.

Renecker masterminded the plan to rob and kill Garcia, prosecutors said. To further the ruse, he asked Casey Jones, who hosted the party at his Rathdrum apartment, to make a phony phone call to a girl, the 18-year-old Post Falls man said.

Chaney, Garcia’s 18-year-old former roommate, said Renecker then directed him to drive to a snowy access road where he believed the foursome was supposed to meet a group of girls.

The men had walked about a quarter mile after leaving the car when Johnson and Garcia started to scuffle, Chaney said. Chaney separated the two men, but they began to wrestle again moments later.

Prosectors say Johnson gained the upper hand.

“Murdoc had a hold of Jorge so he couldn’t get up, and Dutch walked over and shot him,” Baughman said.

An autopsy determined Garcia had been shot twice in the head with a .380-caliber handgun.

Garcia’s left ear also had been cut off by the time detectives found his body. Prosecutors allege Johnson cut off the ear for Renecker, who later showed it off while bragging about the killing.

After killing Garcia, Renecker and Johnson searched the car the men had come in for $400 and a half-pound of marijuana Garcia kept inside, Baughman said.

“That’s what this was all about,” Baughman said.

Chaney, Renecker and Johnson returned to the Rathdrum apartment later that night, where friends of the men said Renecker shared some of the marijuana.

Renecker also showed off a black semi-automatic pistol he was carrying, at one point removing the gun’s magazine, Jones said. Shown the alleged murder weapon in court Tuesday, Jones said it was “very similar” to the one Renecker showed him in January.

“He was pretty proud of himself and he wanted everyone to know how tough he was,” Baughman said.

Prosecutors expect Chaney will offer a firsthand account of the slaying when the seven-day trial continues today.