Jury deliberates in Jake Eilander murder trial after closing arguments
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LATEST UPDATE | Idaho Falls jury finds Jake Eilander not guilty of murder
IDAHO FALLS – Attorneys in the trial for a man accused of second-degree murder stated their closing arguments Wednesday.
Jake Eilander, 37, is accused of killing 44-year-old Ulises Rangel behind Planet Fitness in Idaho Falls. The investigation into Eilander started after Rangel was found shot to death in March 2022. Police later obtained video footage that showed an argument between Rangel and Eilander. Eilander was later found at an Idaho Falls home, where officers found a loaded handgun with ammunition consistent with the evidence at the scene.
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On the eighth day of Eilander’s trial, the prosecution began the morning with their closing arguments, trying to convince the 13 jurors that Eilander shot Rangel without justification.
Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal brought up Jessica Hunting, the woman who found Rangel’s body.
“She noticed the body of Ulises Rangel, lying motionless,” said Neal. “Discovering a dead body, that can cause you some shock. And what does she do? She dials 911.”
Neal reminded the jury that neither Eilander nor his girlfriend, Brandy Carlson, called 911 after the shooting. Eilander also ran away, going about 1.5 miles away to a friend’s house in 23 minutes.
“We want to believe, and we want to understand what people are telling us. When they’re here, and they’re right in front of us, we want to believe what they’re telling us,” said Neal. “We can’t do that with Ulises Rangel.”
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Neal said that for a second-degree murder conviction to happen, the jury must determine five things: the date it happened, that it happened in Idaho, that Eilander engaged in conduct that caused the death of Rangel, that Eilander acted without justification or excuse, and that he acted with malice.
“Arguing or using abusive language does not make (Rangel) the aggressor,” Neal said. “Keeping the gun up, pointed at Ulises Rangel, at his chest, was not communicating that he was no longer a threat. It was the opposite.”
Eilander’s defense attorney, Alexander Sosa, then spoke to the jury, starting with a loud reenactment of what Rangel reportedly yelled to Eilander and Carlson as he walked up to them.
“What the f*** is up? F*** you motherf*****. F*** you, what the f*** is up? Want me to f*** you up? I’m going to f*** you up. F*** you, I’ll f*** you up too, you f****** b****,” said Sosa as he reportedly quoted Rangel. “Come on, you want a piece of me? F*** you, f****** come on, f****** p****. Do you think I’m scared of a gun?
Sosa continued to remind the jury that to Eilander and Carlson, Rangel was a stranger.
“This individual (Rangel) kept approaching,” said Sosa. “The individual took a fighting stance. And at this point, upon this first approach, Jake told you all, he grabbed his gun. It would’ve been a lot more convenient for Jake to say, ‘I didn’t draw the gun until the last second when I had to.'”
According to Sosa, it was during the second approach, after Rangel took off his hoodie and set his belongings on Eilander’s trailer, that the situation became even more serious.
“That’s the kind of behavior you see outside a bar,” said Sosa. “This is happening fast. Jake is trying to protect Brandy. ‘Brandy, leave, get out of here.’ And Jake doesn’t stop after that. He backs up. He continues to back up. How terrifying is it to be backing up, having your gun drawn, and still have an individual bearing toward you, saying he’s not scared of a gun?”
Sosa continued, reiterating Eilander told Rangel multiple times to stop coming toward him and then shot one round.
“There was no second shot. He had the ability to put eight more bullets through his barrel, and he didn’t,” said Sosa. “That’s not malice. It was a shot to stop.”
Sosa continued by stating the entire shooting event was only 60 seconds.
“We’ve spent eight days arguing and talking about 60 seconds. This 60 seconds happened in real-life speed, in a parking lot,” said Sosa. “This 60 seconds wasn’t slowed down, like the video, for us to sit back and closely analyze millisecond by millisecond.”
Sosa ended his argument by turning it over to Eilander’s other defense attorney, Jordan Crane.
“Innocent people get to be scared too. Innocent people get to panic too. Innocent people can want to hide, too,” said Crane. “To every prosecutor, every defendant is biased. To every prosecutor, every defendant’s girlfriend is biased. Innocent people get to tell their story too.”
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Crane spoke to the jury about the events after the shooting, how there seemed to be lots of emotion, and how it affected Eilander’s actions.
“Emotions are interesting things. Jurors have very hard jobs,” said Crane. “I don’t envy you. The judge’s instructions tell you not to use emotion in the jury room. But you cannot ignore the emotion of March 30, 2022. You can set it aside and don’t let your own emotions affect your deliberations. But you’ve got to keep in mind the emotions. This really happened to Jake and Brandy. Nobody wanted this to happen. It was a normal day until it wasn’t.”
He continued by talking to the jury about the jury selection process, reminding jurors that when they were being selected, Neal reminded them that this case would include photos and discussion about traumatic events.
“Some jurors couldn’t do it because of their experiences and what they’ve seen. And it wasn’t wrong that you all could. Because different people have different experiences,” said Crane. “So when Jake and Brandy leave (the scene), that’s not evidence of anything. Jake and Brandy were scared. They were panicked. He was confused. He was afraid.”
Crane continued by reiterating that this was a real-life event, and there was not one witness to testify to what a “normal” reaction to a traumatic event is.
“Mr. Neal offered no evidence from any witness to tell you how people are supposed to act after that happens,” said Crane. “Not one. And you know what? Neither did we. And I’ll tell you why. Because there is no right answer.”
Neal took the stand again and said it comes down to the video that shows the confrontation and shows the facts. Rangel never brought a deadly threat or weapon into the situation.
“What happened is what happened. We can put our best spin on it. The fact is that Mr. Rangel would be alive today except for this man (Eilander) pulling a gun on him and intentionally pulling the trigger. It doesn’t matter that he was scared. … That is not enough to kill someone. … that is not self-defense,” Neal said.
Closing arguments concluded Wednesday at about 1:30 p.m. The jury was sent into a room to deliberate and come up with a verdict.
There’s no word yet about how long the jury will deliberate, but EastIdahoNews.com will provide updates.
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