Omnibus hearings were requested Monday for four St.

Tuesday, August 08, 2000

Omnibus hearings were requested Monday for four St. Paul residents accused of premeditated first-degree murder, robbery and other crimes in connection with a double homicide at the Downtown Motel in Austin.

"This was a botched robbery and a botched robbery is just that," is how Mower County Attorney Patrick A. Oman described the crime that led to the deaths of two men and the wounding of a third.

The murders occurred after a robbery attempt in which the thieves left both the money they sought to steal behind as well as a tennis shoe and mask worn by one of the gunmen.

Formal arraignments were held Monday for the three men and a woman charged in connection with a robbery-homicide June 30.

Vernon Neal Powers, 27, and Scott Perry Christian, 29, each were charged with 11 felony counts of robbery, murder and being felons in possession of handguns. David Kenneth Christian, 28, and Jenea Larae-Nichol Weinand, 18, all of St. Paul, each were charged with nine counts in connection with the June 30 crimes. The Christians are brothers. Each has a court-appointed public defender.

A Mower County grand jury returned first-degree murder indictments last Thursday. Originally, the foursome were being held on second-degree aiding and abetting in robbery and murder. The indictments handed down last week by the grand jury accuse the defendants of both first- and second-degree crimes.

A fifth suspect, Janet Elizabeth Hall, 18, of St. Paul, had charges dropped against her last Wednesday and was freed. Hall remains a material witness against the others.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Austin Police Department detective Thomas A. Stiehm, Juan Vincente Ramirez, 41, and Raul Pedro Guiterrez, 26, died of gunshot wounds when two masked intruders burst into their motel room and demanded money in the early morning hours of June 30 at the Downtown Motel.

The masked intruders opened fire after the victims, four men and a 14-year-old boy, said they had no money.

Benjamin Moreno Hernandez, 20, suffered gunshot wounds to his hands and arms in the shootings.

The apparent motive was the robbery of Ramirez, who reportedly went to a room occupied by Jenea Larae-Nichol Weinand earlier June 30 to have sex for money. Ramirez had $8,900 rolled into a red bandana and Weinand saw the money and allegedly told Powers and Scott Perry Christian and the other defendants about it and suggested a robbery.

The defendants and Hall were apprehended about 16 hours after the crimes in St. Paul and returned to the Mower County Jail to face charges.

The defendants, plus Hall and an unidentified girl, drove from St. Paul to Austin for days prior to the crimes for the purpose of putting the females to work in Austin as prostitutes, police have said.

Courtroom scene

Once again, metal detectors were used as a security measure to search anyone entering the courtroom. Retired Mower County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Robert C. Pedersen and Deputy Sheriff Martha Anderson conducted the searches with assistance from Austin Police Officer Chuck Wesley.

The four defendants, who have pleaded not guilty to the crimes, were all represented Monday by attorney Chester Swenson of Rochester.

They entered the courtroom with an escort of more deputies as well as police and Sheriff’s Department detectives. They were handcuffed behind their backs and wore leg shackles at the ankles

The three men and the woman sat in chairs in the jury box and whispered among themselves. When an apparent joke provoked laughter from the Christian brothers, Mower County Jail Administrator Robert Roche ordered Weinand to sit in a row separate from her companions.

Powers went before Judge Donald Rysavy first. Then came Scott Perry Christian. The pair are believed by police to be the shooters in the crime.

David Kenneth Christian, believed to be the driver of the getaway vehicle, came third and finally Weinand appeared with Swenson before the judge.

Rysavy advised each defendant and attorney that an omnibus hearing would be scheduled sometime in the next 28 days.

The prosecutor, Oman, agreed to supply all discovery, including transcripts of interviews, video and audio tapes and other items of disclosure within the next 10 days.

According to Oman, the only possible holdup in making discovery disclosure will be the DNA results, which still are being analyzed and are not yet in the hands of the prosecutor.

The Minnesota attorney general’s office will act as co-counsels when the cases go to trial. Neither Rysavy nor Oman would speculate on the timing.

The only exchange between Rysavy and a defendant occurred when Scott Perry Christian was arraigned. He questioned Swenson’s standing-in for his court-appointed public defender and observed to the judge, "I don’t know if this is going to help me or hurt me."

The entire arraignment proceedings for the four defendants lasted only 30 minutes Monday.

Courtroom access

After the arraignments, Rysavy spoke to media representatives. Access by newspaper photographers and television camera operators to the proceedings will be limited.

Also, both the victims and the defendants’ families will be given priority when seating becomes a problem in courtrooms where hearings or trials are held. Seats will be reserved for reporters, too.

Oman spoke briefly to reporters outside the courtroom and said the four trials could each be held separately or with multiple defendants.

Weinand, he said, is expected to stand trial separate from the other defendants, because she is expected to be called as a witness then the three men are tried.

Oman said the tight security measures will continue throughout the proceedings.

The reason for the absence of three of the court-appointed public defenders at Monday’s arraignment hearing was given that other court proceedings elsewhere required their presences.

Oman expects the costs of four murder trials to exceed $100,000 each if they are tried separately. Already, Oman said, more than $50,000 has been spent in the investigation and organizing the state’s case against the four.