First degree manslaughter trial starts on Monday
By Brandon Ecoffey
Native Sun News Managing Editor RAPID CITY— On Jan 7, 2013, in the parking lot of the Dakota Rose Hotel in central Rapid City, Charles Birds Head (30) was in the possession of a shotgun that killed Eustacio Marrufo (33) with a blast to the chest during a struggle between the two and an additional Native American male. The state of South Dakota has contended from the beginning that the shooting was a drug deal gone bad and will try and prove this theory during a trial that will begin on July 29, 2013. Pennington County State’s attorney, Mark Vargo, will attempt to convict Birds Head on charges of first-degree manslaughter and commission of a felony with a firearm at a jury trial that is expected to last a week. Birds Head was originally indicted on additional charges however, the defense successfully motioned to have the manslaughter and gun charges severed. The result is that Birds Head will have two separate trials; one for manslaughter in the second degree along with gun charges, and a second trial for the remainder of the charges listed on the indictment. After being arrested a week after the January shooting, Birds Head appeared in front of the court where he said that he understood the charges against him. "I'm tired of running. I have no plans of any flight," Birds Head told the judge. "I'm treating this serious and I want to take care of it as best I can," said Birds Head. During that same hearing State’s attorney, Mark Vargo, presented his belief that the shooting was the result of a drug deal turned sour. "A manslaughter count, as we've charged it, requires that the homicide was unnecessary or in the first count that it was in the commission of a felony," said Mark Vargo to the court in January. "In this case, we've alleged that it was during the commission of a distribution of a controlled substance,” he added. Since the initial hearing however it has become public knowledge that three witnesses of the shooting (one male and two female), as well as Birds Head, have all given recorded testimony of the events that took place on January 7, 2013 to police. None of the statements have indicated that a transaction involving a controlled substance took place that night or that one was expected to take place. Although the available statements made by the witnesses do not mention a drug deal, Vargo, in a statement made to NSN indicated that the state was in possession of evidence that would support their original assertion. According to the witnesses, Birds Head had been called to the Dakota Rose Hotel by an underage witness who the state has dubbed Jane Doe. Jane Doe asked the defendant to provide her with a ride to her mother’s house in Rapid City. Upon Birds Head’s arrival, Jane Doe left the hotel and proceeded to the parking lot where she entered the vehicle that the defendant was driving. After Jane Doe was in the vehicle, both witnesses at the scene and a security camera recording confirm that Marrufo left the confines of the hotel and proceeded to the parking lot. The witnesses have all stated that Marrufo engaged Birds Head from the passenger side of the vehicle where he began assaulting the defendant. While the physical altercation between Marrufo and Birds Head, was taking place, an additional Native American male admittedly attempted to restrain Birds Head from the driver’s side of the vehicle that Birds Head was operating. In a statement that was presented to the court, the witness stated to Det. Neville of the Rapid City Police Department and Federal investigator, Tucker Amiotte, that both Marrufo and he expected Birds Head to be armed prior to engaging him in the parking lot. The witness would go on to say the following as he recalled his recollection of what took place that tragic night: “…(I) was trying to grab him and try to like restrain him like because I didn’t want him to ‘cause he was reaching for something, you know, because when he (Marrufo) jumped in at first and started hitting him when I looked in and he’s going like this like trying, it looked like he trying to grab something, I’m like, ‘Damn he’s trying to grab his gun.’ So I ran around the other side, his driver door and I opened it and I grabbed him you know and I was like trying to grab him and stuff, it might look like I was punching him but I wasn’t I was trying to grab him,” the witness stated. According to the same witness, Marrufo then exited the passenger side of the vehicle and moved to the driver’s side of the vehicle where a struggle was taking place over a shotgun that Bird Head said to police was in “a bag that was like right beside me”. Once reengaged, the witness and Birds Head began to wrestle for control of the gun again. Sometime during the struggle the weapon discharged and hit Marrufo in the chest resulting in his death. The statement of the male witness had been in possession of the State since January 9, two days after the shooting took place. In addition to the statement provided to the investigators, the defense intends to admit a recording of a jail house telephone call between two individuals (who are not party to the case in question) where the same male witness present at the scene is heard alluding to the reasoning why Birds Head was attacked. On the recording the witness says that the attack was the result of Marrufo being angered that Birds Head had been involved sexually with Jane Doe. The State had opposed the admission of all statements provided by the male witness. The jailhouse recording is considered by the defense as being “highly exculpatory” and indicative of Birds Head’s claim of self-defense. The recording that was in the possession of the prosecution since early January was turned over to Birds Head’s attorney on July 11, 2013. Throughout the proceedings, Birds Head’s public defender Jamy Patterson has accused State’s attorney, Mark Vargo, of not providing potentially exculpatory evidence to her client. The State has opposed the admission of all statements and recordings of the Native witness’s recollections of what took place, as well as the recording of Marrufo exiting the hotel to engage Birds Head State’s Attorney Vargo told NSN that this was due to the fact that the male witness was unavailable at the time. The witness had skipped town, however, this past weekend this same male witness was apprehended after trying to contact Jane Doe at a treatment facility in Rapid City. The case has become highly controversial as members of the Marrufo family have demanded a conviction of Birds Head and have attended court hearings wearing shirts with lettering saying “Justice for Junior.” The defense has filed a motion in front of Judge Wally Eklund asking him to bar the shirts in further proceedings. The family has not formally provided statements to the media. In January, a Marrufo family member who contacted NSN about our original story that went to print was asked to gather a statement from the family but the family member declined at the time. The defense had requested that the case be heard by Judge Eklund and not a jury, however the judge dismissed the request and will hear the case after a six-person jury is selected on July 29. In an affidavit to the judge, Bird Head stated his reasoning, “I do not believe I can receive a fair jury trial because I believe the jury will be inflamed by accusations that I was a drug dealer to the point where they will be incapable of rendering a fair and impartial verdict under the law, specifically, that the law of self-defense applies to all persons regardless of their status." (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com)
Join the Conversation