First of four suspects in alleged murder of Bret Snow to start week-long trial Tuesday morning

The murder trial of Colby D. Vodder began this week even though prosecutors have no body, no murder weapon and scant physical evidence linking him to the death of Bret Snow.

Instead the case depends on a long list of witnesses who are expected to testify that Vodder boasted of killing the 32-year-old Snow shortly after his December 2015 disappearance.

Vodder, 28, was one of the first suspects to be arrested and charged in late 2016 when the missing person investigation officially became a murder case.

Jury selection began Monday and a week-long trial is set to begin Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court.

The murder charge stems from an investigation by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, which interviewed dozens of witnesses. Many of them say Vodder admitted to murdering Snow and hiding his body after the 32-year-old botched a drug deal and accepted a trade instead of cash, angering Vodder and others.

Vodder and another suspect, Alvaro Guajardo, 53, who faces similar charges, were known to frequent a home at 7822 N. Starr Road in Newman Lake, rented by Cheryl Sutton, 38, and Kenneth Stone, 34. One witness, court records say, told detectives Snow had delivered drugs for Sutton and Vodder.

Sutton and Stone were indicted in 2016 on a federal drug charge. Sutton also was charged in November 2017 in connection with Snow’s disappearance and alleged murder. Stone was charged in August. Days before Sutton was to go on trial, state attorneys announced Stone had suddenly come forward as a new witness with new information.

During their years-long investigation, deputies tracked Snow’s cell phone records, leading them to the Newman Lake address, where his phone last pinged a tower on Dec. 3, 2015. In June 2016, detectives searched an outbuilding on the property and found traces of Snow’s blood and hair. However, because the workshop was renovated by new owners, the amount of bloodshed could not be determined.

Until late 2015, court records allege, Sutton and Stone, who claimed to be married, rented the workshop, where they lived and sold meth and heroin. One witness interviewed by detectives said Snow had delivered drugs for Sutton and Vodder, until they became infuriated shortly before his disappearance.

Other witnesses reported Vodder bragged that he and Guajardo “took care” of Snow. Court records show Sutton remembered Vodder showing her what she believed to be the murder weapon – a 2-foot-long instrument made of metal with “teeth on it” – as he held it in the air and waved it around.