David Grunwald had a cell phone. Dominic Johnson had a cell phone, as did Austin Barrett. Each one sent network pings that Sunday when David Grunwald went missing. Erick Almandinger had a Samsung tablet; it too periodically sent pings to the network on the evening of David Grunwald’s murder. The only one without a cell phone was Bradley Renfro, but he showed up on camera in the 11:00 p.m. timeframe, purchasing gas at a Holiday gas station alongside Dominic Johnson.
Through these pings, then, the Alaska State Troopers tracked the whereabouts of David Grunwald — and the posse who killed him — across the entirety of that fateful Sunday: from the beating at the Almandinger trailer, to his execution along Knik River Rd, the rendezvous at Devin Peterson’s house and, then, the final stop at the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountains, where Almandinger, Johnson and Renfro torched David Grunwald’s 1995 Ford Bronco.
Grunwald, Almandinger, Johnson, Barrett location, 7:00-8:23 p.m., November 13 (Almandinger residence on Esty Rd.) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
Grunwald, Almandinger, Johnson, Barrett location, 9:05-9:43 p.m., November 13 (South to the Butte) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
DETAIL: Grunwald, Almandinger, Johnson, Barrett location, 9:05-9:43 p.m., November 13 (Old Knik River Bridge; David Grunwald is executed near this location) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
DETAIL: Almandinger, Johnson, Barrett location, 9:56 p.m., November 13 (Arctic Ave & Glenn Hwy, now moving in a westerly direction toward Devin Peterson’s house) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
DETAIL: Almandinger, Johnson, Barrett location, 11:06-11:08 p.m., November 13 (Kaye Lake Rd., Devin Peterson residence; Almandinger drops off the murder and pistol-whip weapons, picks up two portable gas containers) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
NOTE: There is a discrepancy here, because the Holiday gas station security camera shows Brad Renfro at 10:53 p.m.; clearly, one of the time-stamps is in error — we take it to be the gas station time-stamp.
Almandinger, Johnson location, 11:38 p.m., November 13 (Schrock Rd., near site where David Grunwald’s Bronco was burned; Austin Barrett remains at the Peterson location) (Alaska State Troopers; illustration Leland E. Hale)
Sources: Anchorage Daily News, KTVA-11, KTUU, Alaska Public Media, The Frontiersman