PORT ANGELES — Dennis Marvin Bauer was one of the shooters who killed three people at a rural home east of Port Angeles the day after Christmas in 2018, said a prosecutor in closing arguments on Wednesday.
Jesse Espinoza, Clallam County deputy prosecuting attorney, delivered an hours-long narrative of the events before, during and after Bauer and two accomplices allegedly shot and killed trucking company owner Darrell Iverson, 57; his son Jordan, 27; and Jordan’s girlfriend Tiffany May, 26.
“(There were) three residents, three visitors, three firearms,” Espinoza said.
“When the visitors left, they left nobody alive.”
Bauer’s attorney, Karen Unger of Port Angeles, was to begin her closing argument after the state’s presentation.
She will finish today unless the courthouse is closed due to concerns over COVID-19.
As of the close of court, county officials were deciding if the courthouse would be closed today and Friday or not. The decision is to be posted on clallam.net.
Other jury trials in Clallam County Superior Court were suspended through Jan. 30 for COVID-19 concerns, Judge Lauren Erickson announced before the noon recess.
Bauer, 53, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated murder, eight counts of illegally possessing firearms and six counts of possessing stolen weapons.
Bauer has said he was a bystander to the shootings and feared for his safety.
The trial began last Nov. 15.
Investigators said Bauer and co-defendants Ryan Warren Ward, 40, and Kallie Ann LeTellier, 37, shot the victims at 52 Bear Meadow Road and robbed them of guns, tools and other valuables.
“They took all sorts of stuff,” said Espinoza, who summarized jury instructions and nearly seven weeks of witness testimony Wednesday.
Espinoza said Bauer planned the murders because he owed money to Darrell Iverson, he needed money for methamphetamine and because he was upset that the Iversons had allegedly raped LeTellier.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said the victims were shot outside the Iverson home in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2018. The bodies were found on New Year’s Eve.
After the murders, Bauer, Ward and LeTellier allegedly ransacked the Iverson home, bringing weapons and other valuables to Bauer’s ranch on Lower Elwha Road.
Bauer allegedly destroyed evidence that could link him to the murders by burning clothing and electronic equipment in an incinerator, Espinoza said.
Espinoza played for the jury recorded telephone conversations of Bauer discussing the case from jail.
“The story is going to start to change,” Espinoza said.
“It’s no longer going to be: ‘I was at work.’”
Bauer initially claimed that he was cleaning floors at a local Safeway store when the murders occurred.
He later admitted he was at the Iverson property at the time of the shootings, allowing his son to clock in at work under his name.
The jury will begin deliberations after both sides complete closing arguments.
“You are the sole judges of the credibility of each witness,” Espinoza told the jury. .
Ward is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree aggravated murder and 16 weapons violations. He refused to testify in Bauer’s trial.
LeTellier is serving a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty for May’s death and agreeing to testify against Bauer.
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Rob Ollikainen is a freelance reporter.
Senior Reporter Paul Gottlieb contributed to this story.