Audio recordings surface in Yuma murder trial of Nicholas Harder

Jurors heard recordings on Friday that prosecutors say capture Nicholas Harder and a friend discussing what to do with Anthony Jordinelli’s body, a detail that pushes the Yuma murder case beyond the crime scene and into the hours that followed. For the state, the audio matters because it gives the jury a direct look at the aftermath of Jordinelli’s killing and helps fill in gaps between the scene, the suspect, and the disposal of the body.

The testimony came on the fourth day of Harder’s trial in Yuma County Superior Court. The state first called a case agent, then Sergeant Carlos Olmos described what he saw at the scene. Harder, 40, faces one count of premeditated first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault in the death of 57-year-old Anthony Jordinelli.

The recordings took center stage because they appear to narrow the timeline prosecutors are asking jurors to accept. Jordinelli was killed on May 22, 2023, around 2:05 p.m. at the 18100 block of S. Avenue 3E in Yuma, according to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said Harder had been hired to work on the property, and they later found him leaving Yuma Regional Medical Center after he had been treated for injuries. He was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Detention Center on first-degree murder charges.

Earlier testimony had already set a stark visual backdrop. On Tuesday, Cpl. Kenneth Allmon described a Somerton home under construction where deputies found Jordinelli in the master bedroom shower, surrounded by blood, cleaning supplies, trash, debris and tools. Jurors also saw graphic crime-scene photos. The medical examiner testified that Jordinelli had 41 injuries, including more than 15 classified as blunt-force trauma to the head and neck. Toxicology reportedly found marijuana, Xanax within a therapeutic range and methamphetamine.

The April 17 testimony added a different kind of evidence: voices instead of photographs. In one recording, jurors heard Harder and a friend discussing what to do with the body, a point prosecutors are using to connect Harder not just to the killing itself but to the effort to manage its aftermath. That makes the audio especially significant in a case that hinges on how the jury understands the sequence of events after Jordinelli died.

Defense witness Jesse Adams, described as Harder’s friend, testified Friday that he heard a struggle over a phone call. That account gave the defense a competing version of the events tied to the recordings, but the state’s presentation kept returning to the same question: what happened after Jordinelli was killed, and who was involved in the steps that followed.