For 32-year-old Jeremy Kuemmel it was three bullets to the back, ripping through vital organs and perforating his aorta.

For Kuemmel’s girlfriend Tiffany Ellebrecht, 31, it was three bullets to the chest and one to her left temple. The bullet to her temple traveled through her brain and exited her forehead.

Rodriguez.

Yesterday Dr. Mark Super, who performed the couple’s autopsies, testified during the trial of alleged murderer Ulisses Rodriguez. Super described the paths of the bullets and said both victims were already dead when their bodies were consumed by fire in the back of Kuemmel’s SUV.

Super said when Ellebrecht’s body bag was opened, he noticed something immediately.

“There was a chain,” he said under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm. “A large, heavy chain wrapped around her.”

According to testimony from eyewitness John Doe, Rodriguez made him wrap chains around both bodies so they could be pulled into the back of Kuemmel’s Ford Expedition. When Doe heard gunshots and Rodriguez took him to the bodies, Ellebrecht was in the driver’s seat of the Expedition, slumped over the steering wheel. Kuemmel was standing next to Ellebrecht “embracing her,” Doe thought.

Yesterday the jury saw autopsy photos, which were unusually gruesome because the bodies were so ravaged by the blaze. A lot of skin had been charred, and in some places the skin had burned away.

Rodriguez allegedly committed the murders and arson on Aug. 14, 2018, at a marijuana grow site in the China Creek area of Southern Humboldt. According to earlier testimony Rodriguez believed that Kuemmel, one of his workers, had stolen some plants.

Super said there was little clothing left on the bodies, but on the clothing remaining the odor of gasoline “was very strong.”

Although most of the bullets passed through the bodies, one lodged in Kuemmel’s neck and one in Ellebrecht’s chest. Super said the bullets were of “medium” caliber and could have come from a .357 magnum (the weapon Rodriguez is believed to have used.)

During opening statements in the trial, defense attorney Andrea Sullivan told the jury Kuemmel and Ellebrecht had extremely toxic levels of methamphetamine in their bodies. A defense expert is expected to testify the levels were the highest he’s ever seen.

Asked about that, Super said “not even close.”

During cross examination by Sullivan, Super said Kuemmel’s meth level was 2.17 mg per liter and Ellebrecht’s was at 2.25 mg per liter.

Timm then re-questioned Super, asking “Was it from smoking methamphetamine that she (Ellebrecht) died?”

“No.”

“How about Mr. Kuemmel?”

“No.”

Then Timm asked about the highest levels of meth Super has ever found in a body.

“I’ve seen 8.”

Also testifying yesterday — all via Zoom — were three senior criminalists from the California Department of Justice. To summarize their testimony: No blood was found on a blanket and clothing items taken from Rodriguez’s Lexus. There was human blood on the interior of the front passenger door, but it did not belong to either victim.

Also, Kuemmel’s DNA was found on a Marlboro cigarette butt found at the shooting scene. Mixed DNA from Kuemmel and Ellebrecht was on a Camel cigarette butt in the same area. On two small rocks on the ground was blood from Ellebrecht. On a third small rock was blood from both victims.

Rodriguez’s DNA was located on some black Latex gloves.

Both Kuemmel and Ellebrecht were identified by comparing their DNA to samples provided by their mothers.

Another witness, Deputy Coroner Trevor Enright, was able to narrow the time of the alleged arson to a period of a few minutes. The first 911 call came in at 8:22 p.m. when a passing driver saw the blazing Expedition in a turnout on Briceland Road.

Enright testified that a sheriff’s deputy had driven by the turnout at 8:15 “and there was nothing there.”

A surveillance video from a Redway gas station shows Rodriguez filling up a gasoline can at about 6:30 p.m.

Testimony is expected to continue Monday morning before Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis.

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