Richard Hirth makes his way to the Pennington County Courthouse for his arraignment in June 2016 on charges stemming from the killing of Jessica Rehfeld.
When the lengthy process of jury selection began this week at the Pennington County Courthouse for the murder of a 22-year-old Rapid City woman, it had been over seven years since Richard Hirth was booked into the Pennington County Jail and over eight years since the young woman died under the alleged orders of an ex-boyfriend.
The now 42-year-old Hirth is the final defendant with a pending case for alleged involvement 22-year-old Jessica Rehfeldās murder. Rehfeld was killed on May 18, 2014 ā a year before someone led law enforcement to the young womanās body in the Black Hills National Forest south of Rockerville.
Hirth is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, aggravated first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping.Ā Initially Hirth entered a standard not guilty plea, but he later changed that to not guilty by reason of insanity.
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Rehfeldās death and unsanctimonious burial involved several people, according to the stateās case and othersā admissions of guilt. Hirth is the only to maintain his innocence.
Rehfeld broke up with a man named Jonathan Klinetobe in April 2015 after an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted throughout 2014 and 2015, according to a South °®¶¹app Supreme Court opinion in Klinetobeās later appeal.
Klinetobe began to threaten her with phone calls, text and social media posts. She got a protection order against him in May 2015, and stated she felt her life was in danger. A fear that became reality before the end of the month.
Klinetobe told Hirth and David Schneider the Hellās Angels would pay $80,000 to haveĀ Rehfeld killed because she had information on the motorcycle gang. Klinetobe allegedly arranged for Hirth to speak on the phone with someone posing as a Hellās Angels member. According to the South °®¶¹app Supreme Court decision, that person hasnāt been identified.
The three met several times to discuss the murder in late April and early May 2015, according to the supreme court document.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the May 26, 2016 indictment against Hirth, he and Schneider picked up Rehfeld from her house under the guise of giving her a ride to work. But instead they drove her to an industrial part of Rapid City. Once there, Schneider allegedly held her legs down, and Hirth allegedly stabbed her. With her body in the trunk, they picked up Klinetobe, drove to the Black Hills with a shovel and buried Rehfeld in a shallow grave.
Klinetobe returned to the site about two weeks later. With the help of two other men named Garland Brown and Michael Frye, he dug up Rehfeld and reburied her in a deeper grave.
According to the Rapid City Police Department, a woman who drove Klinetobe to visit the burial site several times led police to the makeshift grave.
Brown pleaded guilty in July 2016 to accessory to a felony and was sentenced to five years in prison with one suspended. According to the South °®¶¹app Department of Corrections, he was released in June 2018. Frye pleaded guilty to accessory to a felony in December 2016. He received a five-year suspended sentence and five years of probation, which is set to complete in 2025.
Schneider pleaded guilty to aiding first-degree manslaughter in September 2018. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison. According to the South °®¶¹app Department of Corrections, his first chance at parole is 2053.
Klinetobe pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree manslaughter in September 2019. He received a life sentence without parole in December 2019. The South °®¶¹app Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2021 and Klinetobe remains in custody. Although he spends the bulk of his time at the South °®¶¹app State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, he is currently held at the Pennington County Jail.
The court issued a warrant to bring Klinetobe to Rapid City so he can testify in Hirthās trial.
Hirthās journey through the court system has been lengthy, but he has maintained his innocence. His court file, which contains hundreds of pages of filings throughout the last eight years, is peppered with motions for continuance and centers around questions of competency.
In March 2019, the defense asked for Hirth to undergo a competency evaluation to determine if he was even able to stand trial. After the evaluation, both the state and the defense agreed Hirth was not competent to stand trial, according to the judgeās memorandum opinion.
Hirth was admitted to the Human Services Center (HSC) in November 2019 for competency restoration.
At the end of January 2020, HSC determined he had been restored to competency. The defense objected to HSCās finding and requested a competency hearing.
During a competency hearing split between a day in May 2020 and a day in June 2020, the court heard testimony from the medical staff that worked with Hirth, including testimony his initial diagnosis of schizophrenia was incorrect.
After the hearing, Circuit Court Judge Heidi Linngren ruled Hirth was competent to stand trial. In September 2020, the judge signed an order to have him discharged from HSC and transported back to the Pennington County Jail.
Throughout the years, Hirthās trial date has been moved several times. He was first set to go to trial in October 2019, then January 2022, then February 2022, then September 2022, and finally Sept. 18, 2023 through October 20, 2023. The reasons listed for the date moves are either āreset by courtā or āother.ā
Circuit Court Judge Heidi Linngren is tasked with overseeing the trial. As of Thursday, jury selection continued and opening statements and testimony had not been presented.
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