DAKOTA COUNTY, Neb. — Over the course of three hours on a chilly Monday morning, a former criminal sergeant with the Nebraska State Patrol detailed the evidence collected from the abandoned Surber farm in rural Dixon County during the murder trial for a guy of the same name.
29-year-old Andres Surber sat quietly at the defense table in a red button-down shirt and grey pants, his curly hair partially pulled back in a loose knot behind his head, chewing on a pen. Day 3 of his murder trial began minutes after 9 a.m. in Dakota County. Murder trials are nothing like you see on primetime TV. It takes days to get through the evidence. Attorneys spend a significant amount of time detailing a witness’s credentials and expertise before getting to the meat of each person’s testimony and then going over insignificant detail each piece of evidence and how it’s collected. Galen Svoboda, a former criminal sergeant from the Nebraska State Patrol, was the only witness the state called during the morning session. Several photographs that he and his team took on November 2nd, 2016 were shown, signifying everything from the aerial location of the farmstead down to a blood-like substance discovered in the grass next to a burn barrel on the property. Investigators were first called to the Kubik residence off of Highway 35 near Emerson, Nebraska on that fall morning after Kraig Kubik’s then 5-year-old son told his teacher his dad was dead and there was blood outside his home. Dakota County authorities then performed a welfare check on Kubik, which eventually led them to the Surber farm on 579th Avenue in Dixon County. It was there, inside the trunk of a silver Impala with a broken driver’s side window and flies swarming the passenger side hood and fender, that investigators made a shocking discovery. “It ended my hopes of finding Kraig Kubik alive,” Dakota County Sheriff Chris Kleinberg told the court last Thursday after he made the horrifying discovery. Back at the Surber farm, which authorities considered abandoned, the silver Impala was just one of a handful of junk cars parked just off of the dirt and sand driveway. Sitting perpendicular to the Impala was a rust-colored car and a red van. It was between these two vehicles that investigators found what appeared to be blood and an old kitchen knife with blood on the handle and blood streaks on a nearby bumper of a car. Just a few feet beside that, across the dirt driveway, a gas container and empty cleaning spray bottle were found in front of an old beat-up brown car. In a later part of the investigation, two cell phones were found within the Impala. One, a Samsung device, was powered on during the investigation and showed the words “Boomer Rocks” on the screen. Boomer, Svoboda recalled, was a nickname for 41-year-old Kubik. Investigators searched the dusty abandoned home on the property looking for any evidence. While they found gloves, knives left in the kitchen Svoboda said, didn’t match the knife found in the grass. But, he said, “you can see where the dust had been disturbed.” Back where the junk vehicles were parked, authorities found a 50-gallon drum that had been turned into a burn barrel. Alongside that, an area that had recently looked to have been burned. “When I got into that immediate area and looked at that burned area there,” Svoboda said, referring to a photograph of the barrel and burned area that the State entered into evidence. “There appeared to be more than just burnt grass and leaves in that immediate burned area I believed that what I saw there was some sort of flesh and/or tissue with a reddish color on it.” Surber sat mostly in silence during the morning session, sipping on what appeared to be coffee, occasionally sneezing and sniffling. The Wakefield, Nebraska native is accused of shooting Kubik with a small-caliber handgun the night of November 1st and then cutting up and disposing of his body. Surber has pleaded not guilty to three charges: first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The trial is expected to go on for several more days this week. *No Cameras in Courtroom
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WOODBURY COUNTY, Iowa — 11:00 p.m. UPDATE: Woodbury County Judge Patrick Tott has ruled against Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill in an absentee ballot request form lawsuit filed by the Trump Campaign earlier this month.
This was one of a handful of lawsuits the campaign and other Republican National Committee members filed against counties in Iowa who sent pre-filled out absentee ballot request forms to registered voters. Judge Tott heard arguments Friday morning in a hearing held online and in a ruling late Friday stated those ballot forms sent by Woodbury County election commissioner Pat Gill would be voided. Gill had sent over 56,000 ballot request forms to registered voters. regardless of their party affiliation, within the county that had their personal information already filled out. According to court documents, the county has received about 16,000 Absentee Ballot Request forms (ABR's), of which, approximately 14,000 are in response to the mailed pre-populated ABR's. This matter stems from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the Disaster Emergency instated by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on March 9, 2020 and the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump on March 17, 2020. In response to those declarations, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issued an Emergency Election Directive on July 17, 2020, allowing the state to mail an Official State of Iowa Absentee Ballot Request form to all active registered voters in the state ahead of the November election. The form was expected to be blank except for the election date and type. Court documents claim that Gill, following Pate's proclamation, sent ABR's with voter identification information pre-populated "to attempt to control the costs of compliance... and to assist voters with the difficulties they have with correctly supplying their absentee voter ID information." Judge Tott ruled that the ABR's sent by Gill are invalid and must be voided, therefore those who sent in the pre-populated forms will need to make another request for an absentee ballot. Woodbury County states they would have to hire at least 5 temporary employees and that it would cost upwards of $20,000 to notify those individuals of their voided request. Therefore Judge Tott ordered the Trump Campaign and RNC officials to pay the county $25,000. This ruling by Judge Tott is similar to another ruling in Iowa this week, where a judge in Linn County ruled that they too violated the Iowa Secretary of State's directive and that all ABR's must be uniform statewide. READ THE FULL RULING HERE: 5:00 p.m. FRIDAY The legal battle over absentee ballots between the Trump re-election campaign and the Woodbury County Auditor went before a judge Friday. That hearing, which was held "online", was aimed at invalidating 57,000 absentee ballot request forms sent out by auditor Pat Gill. The Trump Campaign says he acted improperly when he sent out forms that had their personal information filled in. Thursday, a judge in eastern Iowa voided similar forms that had been sent out by the Linn County auditor. It is possible we might get a ruling by the end of the day. *web only story "It ended my hopes of finding Mr. Kubik alive": Trial begins for man charged in '16 murder8/27/2020 DAKOTA COUNTY, Neb. — The 5-year-old son of Kraig Kubik told his teacher on a November morning in 2016 that his dad was dead. The young boy arrived at school about an hour late, walked up to his kindergarten teacher and told her that there was a pool of blood on the ground outside of his home and his dad's boots were laying in the yard. That is how Dakota County authorities were alerted to the disappearance and eventual murder of 41-year-old Kubik, by way of his young son.
One of the first jury trials in the age of COVID-19 began just after 9:15 Wednesday morning in Dakota County District Court. Nearly four years after he was charged with the murder and dismemberment of Kraig Kubik, now-29-year-old Andres Surber is getting his day in court. Surber’s trial was delayed a handful of times over the last four years after questions arose over Surber's competency to stand trial. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenic effectiveness disorder. A judge ruled he was competent to stand trial last October. Surber is said to be representing himself during his trial alongside his counsel. Space was limited in the courtroom, as social distancing was enforced because of COVID-19. The jury and its alternates were seated two to a row within the gallery instead of in the jury box. Nearly all in the courtroom were in a mask or face shield when entering the courtroom, but took them off when seated. Dakota County’s COVID-19 procedures were lax compared to that of Woodbury County, who concluded a bench trial in July. The state began proceedings with a powerful opening statement by Assistant Attorney General Sandra Allen, detailing how authorities discovered Kubik was missing on November 2nd, 2016. Kubik’s girlfriend, Jackie Mahr, arrived at Kubik’s home to find his son alone. She took him to school and went back to the house, where the boy had told his teacher he had seen blood and his dad’s boots. That’s when Dakota County Sheriff Chris Kleinberg showed up to do a welfare check on Kubik. Surber, sitting in a grey button-up shirt, dark pants and part of his dark hair pulled back from his face, sat quietly at the defense table during the state’s nearly 40-minute opening statement. This is a change from other court appearances over the years where Surber has been present, where he has often been seen muttering to himself and fidgeting. The Wakefield, Nebraska native is accused of shooting Kubik with a small-caliber handgun the night of November 1st and then cutting up and disposing of his body. Surber has pleaded not guilty to three charges: first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Now-23-year-old Bryan Galvan-Hernandez was also charged in Kubik's death. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 2017. Todd Lancaster, Surber’s defense, followed the state's opening remarks by reminding the jury of Surber’s own peers that they need to rely on the facts of the evidence that will be presented throughout the trial, not the words of Allen. “What the state just gave you was a trailer to a movie. Don’t make your decision based on a trailer,” Lancaster told the jury as he wrapped his opening statement. The state’s first witness was the Principal and Superintendent of Emerson-Hubbard Public Schools, Lindsey Beaudette, who initiated the call to the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office for a welfare check on Kubik after calls to his cell phone went unanswered. Beaudette, who described his son as animated and excited, walked the court through how the boy approached her that morning after he had told his teacher about his father being dead. The first piece of evidence in this case is Beaudette’s call to law enforcement from the school, where she says the boy arrived about an hour late that morning of Nov. 2nd. “He was telling me how his father was dead and how there was blood was everywhere,” she recalled. The audio in the courtroom was an issue throughout the morning, as the Dakota County Courthouse is not wired for audio and all parties are relying on the witness and attorney’s voices to hear. There have been a handful of complaints from all parties not being able to accurately hear whoever is speaking. Dakota County Sheriff Chris Klineberg was the state’s second witness and described arriving at Kubik’s home off of Highway 35 the morning of Nov. 2nd following the welfare call from the school. Klineberg described finding blood in the grass near the back of a red Dodge Charger and alongside two different air compressors, what looks like a lawnmower and a single standing boot. Later that morning, Klineberg described how he and another officer then made their way to a farm outside of Ponca in Dixon County. They had received a call from Dixon County Sheriff Don Taylor who had gotten reports of suspicious activity at an abandoned farm. At that property, Klineberg, Taylor and other law enforcement found what Klineberg described as dried blood on the back of the bumper of a light-colored car. “My heart kind of sank,” said Klineberg after he found the blood. Throughout Klineberg’s testimony, Lancaster frequently called into question the sheriff’s ability to correctly identify blood. Klineberg referred to his many years as a hunter, along with his homicide training, to accurately identify blood. The state, represented by Special Deputy Dakota County Attorney Corey O'Brien, of the Nebraska Attorney General's Office, then presented the defense and the jury a photo of inside that trunk. “What did you find when it was opened?” “An arm, specifically,” Klineberg said. “It ended my hopes of finding Mr. Kubik alive.” The rest of Kubik's remains were found in rural Cedar County in a culvert off of a minimum maintenance road, which Allen detailed in her opening statement. An autopsy later determined that he had died from a small-caliber gunshot wound behind his left ear. The gun has not yet been found. Allen also described a knife that authorities found with blood on it and a thumbprint that the crime lab identified as Surber's, laying out the state's case and what the jury is sure to see throughout the course of this trial. But as Lancaster stated in his opening statement, it's up to the jury to decide Surber's fate based on the evidence and facts presented, not what the lawyers present at the start. *No cameras in courtroom SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. — The upcoming school year will look a bit different for many families and the Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA is hoping to bridge the gap in education. With the uncertainty of COVID-19, the Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA has created the Y Academy for the upcoming school year, a supplemental learning program for kids ages 5 through 12. "We want to partner with families, parents and the school districts in order to be able to offer opportunities when school is out. Or if the school has to be out," CEO Rhonda Robson said about the new Y Academy. It isn't just assistance with traditional school work they are providing, but other educational activities, too. "What we are thinking is that (mornings) will be your more traditional schoolwork; the reading, the writing, stuff like that that they have to need," said Jacque Perez, the Y's Wellness Director. With school-aged kids herself, she's been helping with the plans for Y Academy. "Then in the afternoon, we will focus on the STEM projects, the science, crafts, PE, swim lessons are included with the Y Academy kids, so if you're here in the afternoon, you'll be able to learn how to swim." READ MORE: Y Academy Robson and Perez both say that the health and safety of the kids and staff will be a top priority each day, with regular cleaning schedules, temperature checks and more. "We know that if parents choose not to put their kids in school for safety reasons, we want them to know that what we are doing at the Y is going to be different in the fact that we are going to make sure that kids aren't cross-contaminating, that each kid is going to have their own little learning area," Perez said. "We are going to be really strict on social distancing. We have cleaning logs. For Y Academy, we will be deep cleaning twice a day." The Y has been offering programs for kids throughout the pandemic. First with a day program for kids of essential workers, and then a summer care program for local kids. They haven't had any COVID-19 scares, but have a plan in place should someone show any symptoms. Perez says the kids in summer care learned the new safety protocols quickly, including staying socially distant in the hallways by using modified jump ropes to stay 6 feet apart. Summer care has given the Y team a good platform to build on for Y Academy. The team at the Y has been working on the plans for Y Academy and says this program is a la carte and can be tailored for each family's needs. "A parent may only need their child to come and get STEM activities or some physical education or swim lessons. So they can opt-out on all day. They can pick a certain day of the week, or morning or afternoon." The cost of the program differs as well, depending on what each kid needs. A full breakdown of the pricing and the program can be found here. It's available to both members and non-members of the Y. The Y hopes this new program can help Siouxland families feel safe in their kid's education. "We want to come behind them and support them and their families and be able to offer something like the Y Academy," Robson said. Perez agreed, saying, "we might not be able to serve as many kids as the school districts might, but we can bring on a lot of kids where parents will feel safe and we can keep them where they need to be." SEE THE VIDEO |
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