Wednesday, August 08, 2007 STEVE MAYES and JESSICA RIFFEL The Oregonian

As 15-year-old Dani Countryman struggled beneath Gilberto Arellano Gamboa, pinned to the floor with her pants down, he called on his cousin to help subdue the girl. Alejandro Rivera Gamboa responded by stepping on Countryman's throat until she stopped moving.

That's how investigators described Countryman's death in a court document released Tuesday. Evidence outlined in the document included statements by the defendants and a bloody shoe that matched an imprint on Countryman's chest.

Gilberto Javier "Gabe" Arellano Gamboa, 23, who is also known as Rivera Gamboa, and Alejandro Emeterio "Alex" Rivera Gamboa, 24, were arraigned Tuesday in Clackamas County Circuit Court on charges of aggravated murder. Through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, they acknowledged the charges against them and asked for warmer jail clothes.

The men, who police believe are cousins, were held without bail in the Clackamas County Jail.

The cousins do not appear to have a criminal history or a long residence in Oregon, but their country of origin was unclear. U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents have interviewed the men, and a hearing will be held to determine their legal status, according to Detective Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Mystery enveloped the death of Countryman, an energetic and outgoing girl who was found dead July 28 in an apartment full of people who were asleep after an all-night party celebrating Countryman's last night in Oregon. Dani was scheduled to return home to Kaufman, Texas, later that day.

She had been in the Portland area for about a month, visiting her 20-year-old sister, Ashley. On the night of July 27, the sisters attended an informal party at a Milwaukie apartment complex where Ashley's boyfriend, Rick Sprayberry, lives.

Arellano Gamboa, who lives in Apartment 19, next door to the apartment where Dani was found dead, and his cousin, who lives in Clackamas, joined the party.

"They were just kind of bothering all the girls there," said Sprayberry's roommate, Vanessa Jacobsen. "We weren't that concerned because they were just trying to be touchy-feely, and the boys kind of told them 'no.' "

Ashley Countryman said that two "Mexican guys" -- she didn't know their names -- were hanging out around Apartment 19 and offered her and Dani some beer. "We were all out front mingling," Ashley said, adding that she didn't like beer and turned them down. But Dani accepted at least two beers from the men, and one of them seemed to be "checking her out," her sister said. Later that night Dani told Ashley "she was interested in one of the Mexicans."

The party included a total of about 20 people, including other residents of the apartment complex and their guests. At one point, Dani and several others were in Apartment 21 watching "The Chronicles of Narnia."

The last time Ashley saw her sister alive, it was about 5:30 a.m., when Dani asked her sister for a cigarette. Ashley then went upstairs to Sprayberry's apartment and expected that Dani would sleep in Apartment 21, she said.

The next time Ashley saw Dani, sometime before 8:30 a.m., the teenager was lying on the floor of Apartment 21, covered by a blanket. Ashley tried to rouse her sister only to discover that Dani was dead and badly bruised on her upper neck and chest.

Dani's friends and family were at a loss to explain what happened.

The court paperwork made public Tuesday provides a possible explanation but leaves unanswered questions, such how Dani could have been killed in one apartment and then found in another without those sleeping inside hearing or seeing anything sinister.

According to Detective Dan Kraus, one of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office lead investigators, this is the account provided by the suspects:

Arellano Gamboa said Dani Countryman knocked on his door, entered the apartment and started kissing him. He ended up on top of her, and they both had their pants down. He said he wanted to have sex with her but did not recall if he did.

Rivera Gamboa said he was asleep on a couch when his cousin awakened him. "The girl had been struggling" and Arellano Gamboa asked his cousin "for help," Kraus said in his report. Rivera Gamboa "admitted that he held her down with his foot on her throat until she stopped moving," Kraus said.

Dani was described as 5 feet tall and weighing 95 pounds. Rivera Gamboa is 5-foot-10 and weighs 180, according to Oregon motor-vehicle records.

The Oregon State Police crime lab found blood on one of Rivera Gamboa's shoes and a "pattern on the shoe was consistent with imprint" on Dani Countryman's chest.

Sprayberry had lived in the apartments a couple of weeks but said the cousins seemed to be clean-cut and hard-working guys.

"They didn't have the crazy dog look to them, but you can never tell these days," said Sprayberry, who was interviewed at the Clackamas County jail. He was arrested last week on a probation violation.

Jessica Bruder of The Oregonian staff contributed to this story. Steve Mayes: 503-294-5916; stevemayes@news.oregonian.com

©2007 The Oregonian