GUILTY NE - Pedro Dominguez, 33, slain, sealed in barrel, Bridgeport, 24 Nov 2015

PastTense

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Morrill County officials are investigating after a body was found in a sealed barrel along Red Willow Creek near Bayard.

Morrill County Attorney Travis Rodak said that a local farmer had been working Friday afternoon when he saw the barrel about 4 miles east of Bayard near County Road 104. “He saw the barrel floating in the creek, and he thought it would make a good burn barrel,” Rodak said. The farmer pulled the barrel, which was sealed shut, to shore. “He opened it, and he sees what he thinks is a body,” Rodak said.
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/bod...cle_94c10fa2-9bd9-11e5-b0ee-87bf2839eacf.html

Since the man's body was sealed in the barrel it was not possible to be an accident or suicide.
 
That's awful I can't imagine finding that. I don't know if I'd rule out suicide yet, maybe it was a magician, some kind of reverse Harry Houdini. Sorry for the attempted humor, but it's been a long day..
 
How awful.
Poor farmer who found the barrel.

Wonder if it was a drug hit ? Makes me think of the "mob", also. At least, in the barrel, there should be evidence preserved ?
I'd bet the killer(s) didn't think of that.
Hope they find the perps.
 
Dead from a bullet to the back of his head, Pedro Adrian Dominguez was sealed in a 55-gallon drum two days before Thanksgiving -- and more than a week before his body was found by a farmer near Bayard, according to Morrill County court records.

The 24-year-old accused of killing him, Zachary A. Mueller, allegedly asked a friend to help him close the barrel outside of his rural Bridgeport home on Nov. 24.
http://journalstar.com/news/local/9...cle_05eda742-a593-5f6e-a29d-f7294eec9686.html

No motive has been given.
 
How awful.
Poor farmer who found the barrel.

Wonder if it was a drug hit ? Makes me think of the "mob", also. At least, in the barrel, there should be evidence preserved ?
I'd bet the killer(s) didn't think of that.
Hope they find the perps.

I know the mob does like to bodies in barrels and throw them into a body of water.
 
'Body in Barrel' homicide trial delayed until January

http://www.knopnews2.com/content/news/Body-in-Barrel-homicide-trial-delayed-until-January-400609011.html

The trial of a Bridgeport man accused of killing another man and stuffing his body in a barrel last year has been delayed until next January.

Morrill County Attorney Travis Rodak tells NBC Nebraska the trial for Zachary Mueller has been re-scheduled to start with the Jan. 3 jury term. The delay stems from a defense motion seeking more time to examine the contents of a phone held in evidence.
 
Bridgeport Murder Trial to Begin Today in Morrill County

http://kneb.com/regional-news/bridgeport-murder-trial-to-begin-today-in-morrill-county/

The week long trial for a Bridgeport man accused of killing a Colorado man and stuffing his body into a barrel will begin today in Morrill County District Court.

25-year-old Zachary Mueller has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and related weapons charges plus an added charge of being an habitual criminal. He’s accused of killing 33-year-old Pedro Dominguez of Greeley, Colorado.

A farmer found the barrel near Bayard, Nebraska, on December 4th of last year. Authorities say Dominguez had been shot in the back of the head.

A 120 person jury pool has been called and they have been divided into morning and afternoon sessions for questioning by the attorneys. The actual trial is expected to start sometime Wednesday after a 12 person jury with two alternates is seated.
 
Jury selection underway in Morrill County murder trial

http://www.starherald.com/news/local_news/jury-selection-underway-in-morrill-county-murder-trial/article_c82385b2-d1ea-11e6-b7a6-9b6c61ec4ed2.html

Throughout Tuesday’s jury selection, attorneys involved in the case asked jurors about any knowledge they may have in the case or any bias. Several jurors reported hearing about the case in the media, but District Court Judge Leo P. Dobrovolny said that is all right as long as it does not predispose them to giving an unfair verdict.

Several jurors were excused from serving Tuesday morning after they told attorneys they knew witnesses in the case or that they had spoken with people directly involved in the incident.

When Defense Attorney Sarah Newell asked one juror if she could presume Mueller’s innocence, the juror replied, “I’ll try.” Several jurors reported being biased toward Mueller and feared they could not issue a fair verdict, as they had already convicted him in their minds.

As of noon Tuesday, jury selection was roughly halfway over. Potential jurors were divided into two groups to appear Tuesday morning and afternoon.

Jury selection is expected to last into Tuesday evening.
 
http://www.nbcneb.com/scottsbluff/content/news/Opening-statements-initial-testimony-in-Mueller-murder-trial-409684165.html

The prosecution opened their case with an opening statement that detailed how evidence found in Mueller's home and on his property tied him to the murder. Prosecutor Doug Warner detailed how Dominguez died from a .380 slug, and a box of ammunition of the same caliber was found in the defendant's safe during a search of his house. He told jurors that while Mueller was in custody, he made a call to a relative, asking if his safe had been searched and that he would get in trouble for what was inside.

In her opening argument, Defense Attorney Sarah Newell said she did not intend to argue with the state on evidence, but that only Mueller and Talley knew what actually happened in the car. Newell told jurors that Talley's credibility was in question, since the woman they would see is different from the woman who had been on drugs when taken into custody months ago as a material witness in the case.

Testimony started with Morrill County Sheriff Milo Cardenas and Under-Sheriff Cherie Fisher, who detailed how the case began with a report that a farmer found a body in a barrel on a creek east of Bayard Dec. 4, 2015, and how the investigation eventually led to the location of a burned out car.

Also testifying were the farmer who initially found the barrel, as well as two men, one who told jurors he saw the burned out car near his property, and another who explained how he saw flames coming from the car at night.

http://www.starherald.com/news/local_news/prosecutor-defense-lay-out-opening-arguments-in-mueller-case/article_734529c8-d2a9-11e6-8013-2b11d538a8ef.html

Significant testimony during the day came from Dr. Peter Schilke, pathologist, Mueller’s mother, Michelle Litke and Holly Heine, a friend of Mueller’s.

Schilke testified about the autopsy done on Dominguez’s body after it was recovered from a barrel in the Red Willow Creek near Bayard. Schilke testified that Dominguez had been shot in the left side of the head and that the trajectory of the bullet went from left to right. The bullet was found in a bone just above Dominguez’s right ear.

Michelle Litke, Mueller’s mother, testified that she knew Talley and Mueller were high when they came to her home to visit their daughter, whom Litke has adopted as her own daughter. She said she had not been expecting the visit. At about 7 a.m. on the day Dominguez is believed to have been killed, she said her neighbor notified her that someone had been trying to get into her home at about 4:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the morning. She learned it was Talley and Mueller and both came to her home and visited with the girl. While Talley was at the Litke’s home over lunch, Litke said she noticed a person sitting in Talley’s vehicle but that person did not come into her home.

After Mueller had left the home and Talley was out picking up lunch, Litke said Mueller called her paranoid because of sirens from ambulances responding to a car accident. Mueller believed law enforcement were coming to arrest him, she said.

Holly Heine also testified about seeing Mueller driving the vehicle. Heine testified about helping a woman, Dallas Schnell, later get rid of the vehicle. Warner said in opening arguments that Schnell and Mueller had a sexual relationship, though she was not his girlfriend. Schnell contacted Heine on Dec. 4, the same day Dominguez’s body was found, asking for her help in getting rid of the bug, which had been stripped of a seat and materials. The woman said Schnell had been panicked, saying she had to get rid of the vehicle in order to get her vehicle, which Mueller had taken with her permission, back from him. Heine testified she helped Schnell pick up gasoline and went with her to a rural location where they burned the vehicle’s interior and exterior.
 
BRIDGEPORT — A witness in a murder trial recalled driving aimlessly through Cheyenne, Wyoming, as her boyfriend lay dead in the passenger seat after being shot in the head. Felicia Talley took the stand Thursday morning during the jury trial of Zachary Mueller. Mueller is charged with first-degree murder in the November 2015 shooting death of Pedro Dominguez. During her testimony, Talley recalled visiting Bridgeport from Greeley with Dominguez, her boyfriend. She said the two had come to Bridgeport to visit her and Mueller’s child. Talley and Dominguez traveled to Bridgeport in a blue Volkswagen bug she claims he obtained illegally. During their visit, they used methamphetamine which she said led to Mueller becoming extremely paranoid and crazy. At some point, all three decided to travel to Evanston, Wyoming. Talley drove. According to Talley’s testimony, they were traveling on the back roads between Bridgeport and Kimball when Mueller, who was sitting in the back, allegedly shot Dominguez in his head.
“I heard a boom,” Talley recalled. “All of a sudden there’s Pedro there with a bullet in his head. I didn’t know what to do.”
http://www.starherald.com/news/loca...cle_c931d81a-d36f-11e6-87c1-d77af657c3c8.html

I have been curious as to the motive. This witness says the murderer was paranoid as a result of methamphetamine use.
 
State, defense rest their cases in Bridgeport
In a jail visit with his mother, Mueller tells his mother that it would benefit him if Felicia Talley, who was jailed on drug charges at the time, could be bonded out. He says that a woman, who is not named, is going to locate Talley and assist her. Talley can then take care of "disappearing" on her own. If she remains in custody, he says, Talley would be made to testify and "I'm screwed."...

Alexandria Montoya, a woman who was temporarily jailed with Talley as she was being held as a material witness, testified that Talley told her about the homicide. She alleged that Talley told her that Mueller shot her boyfriend in the head, but that she "finished him off" by suffocating him. She said that the admission came as the woman attempted to add a teardrop tattoo to her face using a staple and pencil.
Montoya also testified that Talley had told her that she and Dominguez had been fighting about money, that he owed her money and would not give it to her for her daughter.
http://www.starherald.com/news/loca...cle_17f1b1d8-d446-11e6-b814-3f837f10230c.html
 
A Morrill County District Court jury has found a Bridgeport man guilty in the shooting death of a Greeley, Colorado, man.
The jury returned a verdict finding Zachary Mueller guilty of first-degree murder, a Class IA felony; use of a weapon to commit a felony, a Class IC felony; and possession of weapon by a felon, a Class ID felony. The jury deliberated for almost 4 1/2 hours.
Sentencing was set for 3 p.m. on Feb. 27.
http://www.starherald.com/news/loca...cle_8b25537c-d486-11e6-95fe-03b8cdef0710.html
 

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