Darryl Kuehl takeover murder of Paul Gruber

It's hard to think that one of four hundred episodes of Forensic Files can stand out, but this one does for me. I lived in Idaho for a time – a very beautiful place. And a "take over" homicide as this was, is somewhat unusual. Sadly, Paul Gruber was a nice, trusting man and it was another's callous greed that led to his demise. With its proximity to Utah, the state of Idaho has a large proportion of residents who belong to the Mormon church, so I wasn't surprised to learn it was Kuehl's religion. Nor was I surprised when Sergeant Valdez revealed Kuehl had "six or seven" children. On a handyman's salary, raising that many children was likely a struggle, even if Kuehl received assistance from the church.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Parts of Idaho around Sandpoint are known for their share of specifically "militant" occupants. Less than an hour south, the city of Coeur d'Alene is as recognized for its armed, white militias as for its resort amenities. Another Forensic Files episode, Line of Fire (s06e17) featured a small, armed, fundamentalist group of domestic terrorists living closer to this episode, right in Sandpoint, Idaho. The three perpetrators thought themselves to be "Phineas Priests", following the nonsensical ideologies from the racist dogma in a book from 1990. But let's assume Paul Gruber chose this area of the Inland Northwest for it's picturesque vistas.

One disadvantage of committing a crime in a small town like Sandpoint is the residents' familiarity with each other. With less than 6,000 inhabitants, it's not surprising that the dark silhouette of Darryl Kuehl taken by a cockeyed camera at the post office was still enough for him to be identified.

Computers in the mid-1990s

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Another disadvantage of crime in a small town affects law enforcement – it's more difficult to secure the services of a talented sketch artist. By 1994, computers had evolved enough to support software like CompuSketch. Archaic by today's standards, this program was a valuable tool that allowed almost any investigator to take a witness description and create a composite sketch of a potential suspect. In this case, Darryl Kuehl's description of the "imposter" that was claiming to be Paul Gruber was worthless anyway, since this person didn't exist. To Kuehl, this must've seemed like a clever plan, creating plausible deniability. But he severely underestimated the experience of law enforcement (and likely overestimated his own intelligence).

Darryl Kuehl's many blunders

Investigators might've believed they were dealing with an experienced criminal when they initially found that the ATMs where Paul Gruber's money had been withdrawn had no camera. It was possible the perpetrator was sophisticated enough to have avoided being recorded while committing his crimes. But this notion was soon dismissed as the overwhelming evidence against their suspect Darryl Kuehl mounted.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Kuehl's story to detectives was that Paul Gruber had hired him to take care of the property and bills. Darryl Kuehl stated that Gruber had taken a trip to Canada for an indeterminant length of time. While there were likely less options in 1994, there must've been more reasonable ways to pay someone else's bills without withdrawing money from their account and simply depositing it into your own. But this is exactly what Kuehl had done, actually thinking police would believe him. It may've carried a thread of truth if he hadn't syphoned more than $22,000 in a two week period. What kind of bills might Gruber have left for Darryl to pay with that amount? And why would he withdraw and deposit such specific, identifiable amounts in each transaction?

The corpus delicti of any murder case is the victim's body, and for the first 17 months after Paul Gruber's disappearance, police had not located his. But thankfully, Darryl Kuehl helped investigators once again. In the vast wilderness of northern Idaho there are likely countless locations to conceal a body. And Kuehl had the initial advantage of not even being under suspicion for weeks after Gruber's murder. But instead, Kuehl chose to bury Paul Gruber's body in the basement, seemingly not considering that police would likely spend the absolute most time searching Gruber's house. Not enough he'd already given them cause to expand their initial search by gluing the rug to the floor, Kuehl didn't consider that bodies lose volume as they decompose. So his makeshift grave in Paul Gruber's basement was soon recognizable by a newly-formed depression in the ground.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

So after getting arrested, the mastermind Kuehl sought to immediately escape from custody. His plan to have other inmates kill the transport officers was about as clever as his take over murder of Paul Gruber. Kuehl may have recognized that he didn't have much to lose if the plan failed, since he'd been convicted of murder, grand theft and five counts of forgery. But he must've believed he'd convinced other the criminals that he'd be able to come up with $15,000 as payment – while in jail. It's no wonder they turned state's evidence against him.

In the end, Darryl Kuehl led to his own downfall. Kuehl's plan to live Paul Gruber's life long enough to take his belongings and bleed his bank accounts dry was bungled from the beginning. I imagine that Darryl Kuehl even hoped to sell off Paul's house. The first sign of foul play came shortly after the homicide when Shellie Kepley received the first forged birthday card.

Handwriting expert Robert Floberg

Like the Sandpoint police department's lack of a sketch artist, it seems they lacked a skilled handwriting analyst too. Darryl Kuehl's forgeries actually fooled their so-called expert, while they didn't fool Paul's own daughter. I'd hope Sandpoint might've sought an additional opinion instead of simply dismissing Shellie's claim. The episode also indicated that Shellie was the one who called the post office in Sandpoint to ask who'd been picking up her father's mail. Isn't this something the Sandpoint police should have done? It seems like a logical step in the investigation of a missing person.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Thankfully, more experienced investigators got involved. Robert Floberg was a good interview in this episode, and I always enjoy the intricacies of handwriting analyses. There are such specific nuances to an individual's handwriting that it seems almost impossible fool the experts. Consider the case in Writer's Block (s10e21) where Richard Lyon had learned to write like his wife Nancy and used it to create fake diary entries after her murder. In the images used showing Paul Gruber's sample handwriting and Darryl Kuehl's forgeries, the differences seemed pretty clear. But this is an easy assertion once the actual work had been performed and we're only seeing the highlighted outcomes.

Closing Arguments

The subterfuge Shellie used to test her suspicion of a forgery was clever. Similar tactics have been seen in the episode Best Foot Forward (s13e50) where Shamaia Smith's sister leaves a message on Ken Otto's voicemail. But sometimes attempting to assist police's investigation can be dangerous. Remember the episode Church Disappearance (s06e10) where Dorothy Noga repeatedly questions Stuart Knowlton in an attempt to solicit a confession in the murder of Cassie Hansen. Dorothy was later ambushed in the dark and left for dead.

Rather than lingering questions, I was left with interesting observations at this episode's conclusion:

• Paul Gruber's former student "Valerie Jackson" was interviewed early in the episode. This name stuck out to me, recalling the victim's name (Valiree Jackson) from another episode. In Bagging a Killer (s06e25), Brad Jackson is found guilty of murdering his nine-year-old daughter Valiree.
• I hoped I'd secure the Cringeworthy Crime Jargon phrase "Lit up like a Christmas tree" when Sergeant Valdez was talking about the investigation's use of luminol. But it wasn't meant to be.
• The reenactment segment of Darryl Kuehl living as Paul Gruber had an eerie visual added – Kuehl using Gruber's "World's Best Teacher" coffee mug. Nice touch.

Where is Darryl Kuehl now in 2024?

Darryl Kuehl was arrested on May 20, 1996. Nearly a year later, Kuehl was found guilty on multiple charges, including first degree murder. Since this time, Darryl Kuehl has filed multiple appeals contesting his conviction to no avail. In 2022, Darryl Kuehl was age 71 and would receive his first parole hearing in November of 2033.