Vencil Leo Ash III appeared before Judge Derek C. Weimer in the Kimball County District Court on May 21 requesting that evidence be suppressed from his impending jury trial on the charge of first degree murder.

After hearing from those involved, Judge Weimer denied the request.

The attorney for Ash, Kelly S. Breen, an employee of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, had asked the court to suppress videos of interviews that investigators conducted with Ash on April 7, 2010. In these Ash apparently admitted to murdering Ryan Guitron.

Later he led investigators to the site where he allegedly shot and killed Guitron.

Sandra Allen, attorney for the prosecution representing the state’s case, responded by calling investigator John Wester of Fort Collins, Colorado, to the stand.

“Did you suggest to Vencil Leo Ash III that you would like to interview him for four to five hours to talk to him about past crimes?”Breen asked.

“No,”Wester replied. “The purpose of the interview was to build a repoir with him.”

Another investigator in the case, Kevin Maul, appeared on the stand to answer questions from Ash’s attorney.

“During the investigation that took place on April 7, 2010, was there an offer made to Vencil Ash to take care of some other cases he had in Weld County?” the lawyer asked.

“We don’t have that authority to do so,” responded Maul, “No promises were made. No threats were given. He offered on his own to take us to the site where the remains were.”

“Did you continue to ask him questions on the way to scene where the remains were found?” Breen continued.

“No,” said Maul, “he was in Federal custody at that time, so the U.S. Marshall drove Ash to the scene and I was in a different vehicle.”

Breen wanted to determine if investigators continued their interrogation at the scene of the alleged crime. Maul assured the court that no questioning had taken place.  “He [Ash] directed us to locations, and walked me to an area where it occurred and showed me tools that had been used and where his [Guitron’s] body was,” Maul recalled.

Ash had initially denied involvement in the shooting, according to reports. The defense pressed the issue of coercion, which investigators repeatedly denied.

The initial break in the Guitron case came on April 1, 2010, when the police responded to a domestic disturbance in Cheyenne, Wyoming and arrested Ash, who was living there at that time. Kelly Meehan-Ash fled the Cheyenne house during a standoff. She told police that Ash was holed up inside with a high-powered hunting rifle. Ash is a felon in possession of a firearm according to a federal complaint.

After some investigation, it was discovered that Ash was a former roomate of the then-missing Guitron.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found information during their firearms investigation that led them to believe Ash had been involved with in a homicide. Meehan-Ash also told investigators that Ash took Guitron to an abandoned farmstead in southwest Kimball County in the fall of 2003, shot him in the head and buried his body in a woodpile.

Ash has a lengthy criminal history. He was sentenced to four years in state prison in 1998 after pleading guilty to felony assault and vehicular eluding police. Other charges from the 1998 incident, including arson and using a gun while drunk, were dismissed.

Authorities long suspected foul play in Guitron’s disappearance.

The pre-trial in this case is scheduled for June 5 in the Kimball County District Court in the afternoon. A specific time was not mentioned during the hearing.

The jury trial is set for June 25.