Hemingford woman to stand trial in Bullock death

(Photo courtesy of Lincoln Journal Star)

A Hemingford woman will stand trial on a charge of being an accessory to a felony in association with the death of former Alliance resident Josh Bullock.

Following a two-hour long probable cause hearing Tuesday afternoon in Box Butte County Court, Judge Russ Harford bound 19-year-old Rose Siefke (sef-key) over to District Court.

Siefke's charge stems from her association with 27-year-old Andy Gonzales, who told law enforcement during a June 12 standoff at Thiele Pharmacy and Gifts that he had killed the 38-year-old Bullock and buried his body in rural Dawes County.

Bullock was reported missing on December 1. His burned out pickup truck was located December 14 and his body was found in a shallow grave southwest of Chadron in mid-June.

The only person to testify during the hearing was Keith Drinkwalter, a criminal investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol. Drinkwalter told the court that during initial contacts with Seifke in January and April, she denied knowing anything about Bullock's disappearance.

However, following Gonzales' June 12 death during a shootout with a Nebraska State Patrol SWAT team, Seifke met with Drinkwalter on June 13 and confessed that she knew of the details surrounding Bullock's death.

Drinkwalter testified that Siefke shared with him that she had found Bullock's dead body in the Gonzales home at 472 Cody Avenue on December 1. She stated that Gonzales threatened to harm her if she didn't help him hide the body. Gonzales loaded Bullock's body in Bullock's pickup and drove it to a remote area southwest of Chadron while Seifke drove a separate vehicle. Gonzales then set the pickup on fire with Bullock's body still inside the truck.

The couple then drove back to Alliance and two days later returned to the burned vehicle and removed Bullock's remains. They then drove to a remote area south of the Job Corps where Gonzales buried Bullock's remains in a shallow grave.

In mid June, Seifke took Drinkwalter to the area where the body was buried. Efforts to find Bullock's remains failed and law enforcement had to return to the area a day later where they found Bullock's remains buried 18 inches underground.

During cross-examination with defense attorney Larry Miller, Drinkwalter confirmed that Seifke had stated that Gonzales was a controlling man who threatened to kill Seifke if she didn't help him hide Bullock's body. She stated that Gonzales carried a handgun most of the time.

Seifke also told Drinkwalter that Gonzales had killed his father on the night of June 10, a day-and-a-half before the Thiele's incident.

The body of Larry Gonzalez was found in his home on June 12.

Other Drinkwalter testimony that was shared during the hearing:

-- Both Gonzales and Seifke were selling marijuana for Bullock and that Bullock often carried large amounts of cash.

-- Police had received several tips from citizens that believed Seifke and Gonzales were somehow associated with Bullock's disappearance and that everything police had pointed to the couple.

--- Phone records revealed that between November 23 and December 1, Seifke and Bullock had communicated 323 times via cell phone calls and text messages, but that communication ceased on December 1, the day Bullocks was last seen alive.

--- Five women in the courtroom gallery donned red "Justice for Josh" t-shirts.

Seifke remains free on $50,000 bond. Her first district court appearance is scheduled for August 8.

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