Jury convicts third suspect of murder stemming from Bret Snow disappearance

Counting the lunch break, a jury took less than two hours Thursday to find an accused drug enforcer guilty of murdering and dismembering a man in Newman Lake four years ago.

Alvaro Guajardo, 54, was the third of four suspects convicted of murder following the December 2015 disappearance of Bret R. Snow, who was 32 at the time. Authorities believe he was struck in the head with a lawnmower blade, stabbed, shot and then cut up and placed in buckets, according to court testimony.

“He was very, very responsible. I feel great,” Snow’s mother Lori Rison said after the verdict. Asked what her son would tell her if he could, Rison paused as she wiped away her tears. “He would say, ‘Thanks mom.’ ”

Rison, and Snow’s sister, Brittany Snow, have sat through four trials. The first trial came in October against 29-year-old Colby D. Vodder, but a jury acquitted him on a kidnapping charge and could not reach a decision on the first-degree murder charge. A second jury convicted Vodder of first-degree murder June 10. He’s scheduled for sentencing July 10.

On April 19, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Raymond Clary sentenced Cheryl L. Sutton, 39, to 31 years in prison after a jury convicted her on March 1 of first-degree murder in connection to the death of Snow.

Also charged in the case is Kenneth L. Stone, 35, who was Sutton’s boyfriend at the time of the killing. He initially tried to make a deal to testify, but did not take the stand in any of the three other cases because investigators did not find what he had to say was credible. He’s scheduled for trial in October.

According to court records and testimony, Snow helped move drugs from a home near Newman Lake at 7822 N. Starr Road. Sutton and Stone lived at the home, while Guajardo lived in a room inside of a large shop.

Snow was dropped off Dec. 2, 2015, and texted back and forth with a friend until the early hours of Dec. 3, 2015, but he hasn’t been seen alive since.

Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Dale Nagy told the jury Thursday morning that Sutton was upset with Snow and she directed Stone to tie him up. After he was bound, Guajardo hit him a couple times before the group led him downstairs.

A couple days later, the homeowner, Russell Joyce, who also lived in an apartment in the shop as he rented the home to Sutton and Stone, said he heard activity in the shop, but the crew had locked the door and would not let him enter.

“Mr. Guajardo takes Mr. Joyce for a ride in Mr. Vodder’s truck,” Nagy said. Guajardo “pulls a gun and points it at Mr. Joyce’s head. He said, ‘Do we need to worry about you?’ ”

Another witness, Christopher Schoonover, testified that Guajardo told him that he was present when Snow was killed and dismembered in the shop.

Defense attorney Travis Jones acknowledged that Snow is missing but he said “no one knows where he is. This case is the state’s best guess as to what happened,” he told the jury. “But you need more than a guess.”

He noted that Snow’s identification card turned up in Montana.

“Mr. Snow is missing. There is no body,” Jones said. “Just because Mr. Guajardo helped them cook meth, that doesn’t mean he was an accomplice to kidnapping and murder.”

Nagy built his case around phone records and forensic searches, which discovered Snow’s blood in the precise areas that witnesses said he was killed.

In his closing, Nagy highlighted a piece of evidence that may have been the most compelling. He noted that in the month before Snow disappeared, Sutton had called him 96 times and sent more than 400 text messages. After he went missing Dec. 3, Sutton sent him zero messages.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not a guess when we have the phone records,” Nagy said. “The evidence shows (Snow) was taken down to that shop, where Ms. Sutton, Mr. Stone, Mr. Vodder and Mr. Guajardo finished him off and got rid of the body.”

Guajardo now faces between 25 to 33 years in prison. Clary could decide the kidnapping conviction is enjoined, meaning it will count against his offender score for the murder conviction. If so, that could add about 20 more months to the sentencing range, Nagy said.

Despite that, Guajardo was smiling and joking as he waited for the jury. After the verdict, he said, “I’ll be back” as he was led in handcuffs out of the courtroom.

Clary made sure Gujardo’s prediction would come true by scheduling Guajardo’s sentencing for 9 a.m. July 19.