Box Butte County District Court Judge Travis O’Gorman has overruled a motion by a Hemingford woman to have her case dismissed.
20-year-old Rose Siefke is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday morning at 9 o’clock.
Siefke is charged with being an accessory to a felony in the December, 2011 death of Josh Bullock, a former Alliance resident who was residing in Denver.
During a June 12 standoff with law enforcement in downtown Alliance, 27-year-old Andy Gonzalez of Alliance told law enforcement that he had killed Bullock and buried his body in rural Dawes County.
During a preliminary hearing in Box Butte County Court on July 17, Nebraska State Patrol investigator Keith Drinkwalter testified that Siefke had told him that she drove her own vehicle to an area south of Chadron, with Gonzalez following her with Bullock’s body in a vehicle owned by Bullock that Gonzalez was driving. The vehicle with Bullock’s body in it was then burned. Two days later, Seifke and Gonzalez returned to the burned pickup and Gonzalez buried Bullock’s remains in a different location south of Chadron.
Following the preliminary hearing, Judge Russ Harford ruled that the prosecution had presented enough evidence to have the case bound over to district court for trial.
Siefke’s attorney, Larry Miller of Alliance, then filed a plea in abatement challenging Harford’s decision.
After reviewing the county court transcripts, Judge O’Gorman ruled that enough evidence was offered to have the case bound over.
“The evidence referenced provides probable cause to believe that Siefke assisted Andy Gonzalez with concealing and destroying evidence of the murder of Bullock,” the judge wrote. “During interviews with Nebraska State Patrol investigator Keith Drinkwalter, Siefke indicated that she had no information regarding Bullock’s disappearance. Siefke’s later interview proves this information was false.”
The judge goes on to state: “Much of Siefke’s argument goes to the intent of the crime charged. She suggests that she did not have the intent to interfere with, hinder, delay, or prevent Gonzalez’s discovery by law enforcement, but held the intent to protect herself and her family from harm at the hand of Gonzalez. Maybe so. This, however, is a question for a jury to resolve.”
Siefke remains free on bond.
