Three former associates of double-murder suspect Ulisses Rodriguez testified Tuesday that they were either there when Rodriguez moved the bodies or were told soon afterward that Rodriguez killed Jeremy Kuemmel and Tiffany Ellebrecht.

Rodriguez.

All three men worked on a marijuana grow that was up the hill from the site where Rodriguez was growing. One of them, “Chano” Sanchez, was down at Rodriguez’s grow when he heard gunshots and then a frantic Rodriguez drove up to the spot where he and worker John Doe were moving some soil.

Chano, under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm, said Rodriguez told him and Doe “I killed them” and they needed to come and help him.

Although Chano testified to the basic story that Doe told when he testified — the bodies were chained and then pulled into the back of Kuemmel’s Ford Expedition — his version was much kinder to Rodriguez.

Chano saw something in Rodriguez’s hand but wasn’t sure it was a gun. Rodriguez never pointed a gun at anyone or threatened to kill them, Chano said. Doe had testified that Rodriguez held a gun to his head and forced him to chain the bodies.

When they left the property after the killings, Chano said, Rodriguez did not threaten to harm them if they didn’t come back.

When they left, Chano and Doe drove to the upper grow and spoke with Jose Sanchez, who is Chano’s nephew. Doe told Jose about the shootings.

“What did he tell you?” Timm asked Jose when he testified later.

“That Ulisses had killed Jeremy and Tiffany.”

“When John Doe told you that Ulisses Rodriguez had killed Jeremy and Tiffany, what did you say?”

“Well, to not go back there. To go somewhere else, like a hotel.”

Like other witnesses, Jose said he is still frightened to this day, more than three years after the killings.

Jose’s cousin Alonzo Sanchez, who worked at Jose’s grow, testified Doe called him the day the couple were killed. Alonzo said he was driving back from Oregon when he got the call.

“’He fucked them. He totally fucked them,’” Alonzo recalled Doe telling him. “‘He killed them. Ulisses shot Jeremy and the white girl.’“

Alonzo said Rodriguez also called him that day and told him not to come to the property, that he would see him in town (Redway) the next day.

At one point Rodriguez also texted Alonzo, saying “See if you can give me 25 tomorrow so I can leave.”

Alonzo said he wasn’t sure why Rodriguez texted him, and he didn’t know what the message meant.

Chano, Alonzo and Jose all identified Rodriguez in the courtroom.

All three also testified through Spanish interpreters who did their best, but the language barrier became a problem a couple of times. For example, it’s previously been clear in trial testimony that Alonzo and Chano worked for Jose, while Doe, Jeremy and Tiffany worked for Rodriguez.

On Tuesday, however, Jose said some of the plants on his grow belonged to Doe, who was his “partner.” It was never clarified exactly what he meant by partner.

Also, there was great confusion around the Spanish verb chingar. It can have many meanings, with one of them being “fucked.” So when Doe told Alonzo that Rodriguez had “fucked” Ellebrecht and Kuemmel, he said “Ulisses los chingon.” Unfortunately, one of the police reports changed the verb conjugation, stating that Doe said he had done the deed. That was eventually cleared up.

While testifying all three witnesses said they didn’t go to law enforcement immediately because they were frightened. One of the reasons for that fear, Chano said, was that he was working illegally and was concerned about citizenship.

At the end of the day, Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis told jurors they didn’t need to return to court until Friday morning. Today and Thursday attorneys will be dealing with witness-scheduling issues.

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