Trial reset for girlfriend in strangulation-death case

Published 12:01 am Sunday, August 5, 2012

PORT ANGELES — The trial of Kendell K. Huether, who is charged with rendering criminal assistance to her boyfriend after he allegedly strangled a 27-year-old developmentally disabled woman to death last October, has been postponed to Sept. 10.

Clallam County Superior Court Judge George L. Wood reset the trial last Monday, the same day it was scheduled to begin.

The delay was necessary because defense attorney Karen Unger had to be in federal court last week, Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ann Lundwall has said.

Huether, 26, is charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance and two counts of witness tampering in the death of Jennifer Pimentel.

Investigators said Huether helped her boyfriend, Kevin A. Bradfield, 23, hide Pimentel’s body in a wooded area near the Hood Canal Bridge in East Jefferson County.

She allegedly asked two acquaintances to say they saw Pimentel alive after her disappearance, court papers said.

Bradfield, of Port Angeles, is charged with second-degree murder in Pimentel’s death.

Lundwall is seeking an exceptional sentence that would give a judge the authority to impose a life sentence if Bradfield is convicted by a jury.

Bradfield is being held in the Clallam County jail on $1 million bond.

His trial will be reset at his next court appearance Monday, Lundwall said.

Huether is living in Port Angeles on electronic home monitoring.

In her most recent court hearing, Lundwall advised that an evidentiary hearing is needed for possible redactions in the transcript of Huether’s interview with investigators.

A review hearing was set for Aug. 16.