State v. Kufrin

551 P.3d 416

2024 UT App 86

STATE of Utah, Appellee,

v.Michael Ignatius KUFRIN, Appellant.

No. 20210499-CA

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Filed June 6, 2024

Fourth District Court, Provo Department, The Honorable Kraig Powell, No. 171402277

Emily Adams, Freyja Johnson, Salt Lake City, and Melissa Jo Townsend, Attorneys for Appellant

Sean D. Reyes, Salt Lake City, and Jonathan S. Bauer, Attorneys for Appellee

Judge Ryan M. Harris authored this Opinion, in which Judges David N. Mortensen and Amy J. Oliver concurred.

Opinion

HARRIS, Judge:

¶1 After a thirteen-day trial, a jury convicted Michael Ignatius Kufrin of murdering his girlfriend, Peggy Sue Case (Peggy), in 1988. Kufrin appeals that conviction, asserting that the trial court should have declared a mistrial after one of the State’s witnesses mentioned that Kufrin had "previous cellmates"; that the court improperly admitted expert testimony from the medical examiner (Examiner) regarding timelines for stages of body decomposition; and that his trial attorneys rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance by not lodging a particular objection to testimony from Peggy’s coworkers about the status of her relationship with Kufrin at the time of her disappearance. For the reasons set forth, we reject all of Kufrin’s arguments and affirm his conviction.

BACKGROUND¹

Peggy’s Mysterious Disappearance

[1] ¶2 On Saturday, July 9, 1988, Peggy and Kufrin—a romantically involved couple who resided together—attended, along with some of Peggy’s coworkers, a company barbeque and a follow-on "hot tub party." Some people at the events noticed something off about Kufrin. One person thought that Kufrin "was maybe the only person there that wasn’t having fun." Others noted that he appeared "angry-looking," was not very social, and spent his time "kind of in the distance." Peggy, on the other hand, "was having a good time" and was at times seen in the hot tub socializing with some other men. At around 11:00 p.m., Peggy and Kufrin left the party together, accompanied by no one else. That was the last time anyone other than Kufrin saw Peggy alive.

¶3 On the following Monday, Peggy did not show up to work. Her office did receive an explanation for her absence, though; Kufrin called in that day and explained that Peggy was unable to come to work because she was "going up to Salt Lake to look at a car." Meanwhile, Peggy’s family was worried and thought Peggy might be missing; Peggy’s sister went over to Peggy and Kufrin’s residence that evening and saw Kufrin outside "watering the lawn." Peggy’s sister observed that Kufrin was nervous—so nervous, in fact, "that the water in his hand was shaking." Concerned, Peggy’s sister asked Kufrin where Peggy was. Kufrin responded, "Well, she’s gone," and he explained that Peggy had gone "to Reno to get a car."

¶4 Over the next few days, Kufrin called Peggy’s office at least two more times to explain her absence. In these later calls, Kufrin told Peggy’s coworkers that Peggy "wasn’t feeling well" and therefore couldn’t come to work. One of Peggy’s coworkers was concerned, and she called Peggy’s telephone number; Peggy did not answer, but the coworker heard a message on Peggy’s answering machine that Kufrin had recorded, apparently intended for Peggy. In the message, Kufrin stated, "If you have any more trouble with the car, call the friends in Sparks and they will come and get you, and then I will come and get you."

¶5 By Friday, police had started an investigation into Peggy’s disappearance. Officers interviewed Kufrin, and he said that Peggy "had gone with [a friend] to Reno" to buy "a 1986 silver Honda Prelude." (That friend would later testify that she did not go on a trip with Peggy to Reno.) Kufrin also said that he had last seen Peggy on Sunday but that he had spoken with her on both Tuesday and Thursday. According to Kufrin, Peggy told him during one conversation that she was in Lake Tahoe and was on her way to see her brother who was serving a religious mission in California, and that she would be back by Monday. (That brother would later testify that Peggy never went to see him.)

¶6 Starting Monday, officers regularly checked the residence where Kufrin and Peggy lived to see if a new car was parked out front, which would perhaps signify that Peggy had come home. But every time they went by, they saw no new car. During a Tuesday visit, police knocked on the door. Kufrin answered, and he said that Peggy had come home. He pointed to a blue duffle bag that he claimed Peggy used while traveling, and he explained that Peggy had gone to pick up her paycheck and that she would be back at the house soon. (That paycheck was never picked up.) He then promised that when Peggy came home, he would tell her to go over to the police station.

¶7 Over the course of the investigation, officers discovered that Kufrin had been telling different stories to different people about where Peggy was and what had happened to her. At trial, the State presented testimony from many witnesses about the various accounts—in addition to the ones already discussed—that Kufrin gave, including the following:

• A neighbor testified that, on the day after the hot tub party, Kufrin said that Peggy had "got[ten] drunk and left" the party "with a couple of her coworkers" and would call him in a few days and then come home.

• A coworker testified that, three days after the party, Kufrin said that Peggy had gone to get a car because she was mad that Kufrin "wouldn’t marry her."

• A friend testified that, sometime in 1988, Kufrin said that the "cops" were "accusing him of killing Peggy" and that she had left Utah to go buy a car.

• Another friend testified that, sometime during the week of Peggy’s disappearance, Kufrin said that Peggy "needed to get away for a few days and that she had gone out of town."

• That same friend also testified that, near the end of July, Kufrin said that Peggy had come home for a night and that "he had to send her back … to California" where she was either "getting a Job or had got one."

• A neighbor testified that, sometime at the end of July or in early August, Kufrin said that "Peggy had been in contact with him and that she had an RV and they were going to meet somewhere and then leave from there."

• One of the friends also testified that, sometime in 1988, Kufrin said that Peggy "was at a motel in Nephi, but she was not allowed to talk to anybody per her lawyer’s advice."

• That same friend also testified that, sometime in 1988, Kufrin said that he had just taken Peggy up to Park City, that they were "going to get married," and that they wanted the friend to be a witness at the wedding.

¶8 Kufrin’s claim that he and Peggy were going to get married was one that Peggy’s friends and coworkers found "surpris[ing]." Prior to her disappearance, Peggy had told one coworker that she was "dissatisfied" and "unhappy," and that she was "looking for a more committed relationship" with "someone who could plan with her … for her life and her future." She had left another coworker with the "impression" that she "wanted to improve her situation." One of Peggy’s friends told police that Peggy had "decide[d] that she wanted more out of her relationship with" Kufrin and that if Kufrin "didn’t set some goals and have more ambition, she was going to leave him." A neighbor also testified that before Kufrin moved in with her, Peggy "seemed happy," but that after Kufrin moved in, Peggy "became very withdrawn" and "wouldn’t communicate at all."

¶9 In August 1988, the police searched Kufrin’s trash. In it, they found a "ripped-up photograph" of Peggy, as well as a torn-up tendered check from Peggy’s account. The check was dated one month after Peggy’s disappearance and was made out to Kufrin in the amount of $100, and it bore a suspicious-looking signature. Police also found one of Peggy’s bank statements, also torn up, which indicated that the check made out to Kufrin had effectively drained Peggy’s account.

¶10 With this new information in hand, police obtained a warrant to search the residence Kufrin had shared with Peggy. The police utilized both human officers as well as dogs (referred to as K9s) in this search of the premises, but the K9s used in the search were not trained and certified as "cadaver dogs." During the initial search, which took place in early September, police searched not only the house but also a "root cellar" located at the back of the property.² This search of the root cellar was conducted by both officers and a K9, and they found nothing of interest in this first search of the root cellar.

¶11 In October, about a month after this initial search, Kufrin moved out of the residence. But despite his relocation, neighborhood rumors continued to run rampant that Peggy had been murdered and buried somewhere on the premises. In an attempt to quell these rumors, officers contacted the owner of the premises and obtained "permission to go under the house and around the yard and look for Peggy." Officers (this time without a K9) again searched the root cellar, and this time they "spaded" the dirt floor with a shovel, although they did not go "more than two spades deep in any one spot." Officers again found nothing.

¶12 Police interviewed Kufrin again in January 1989. In that interview, Kufrin stated that the last time he saw Peggy was at the hot tub party at around midnight. He also claimed that Peggy had later returned with a new car but that he never saw her. And he said he delivered a cedar chest to her location in California, but he declined to give the police "a specific location or a person that [they] could confirm that with."

¶13 After that, for nearly three decades, the case went cold.

The Discovery of Peggy's Body

¶14 In 2012, a new tenant (Tenant) moved into the residence where Peggy and Kufrin had lived in 1988. He used the root cellar in the backyard for storage. When Tenant moved in, he found a table and a five-gallon bucket of concrete in the root...