State expected to drop charges against Mann; German, Carter in court Tuesday

    Charges against one of the three defendants in the Annika Swanson kidnapping and murder cases will be dismissed.
    In a document filed Jan. 16, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which is leading the prosecution, informed Chase County District Court it is moving to dismiss felony accomplice to kidnapping charges against Russell Mann, 43, of rural Enders.
    The charges are expected to be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled.
    Nebraska Assistant Attorney General Michael Guinan, lead prosecutor on the case, declined comment on why the charges will be dismissed.
    District Court arraignments for the other two defendants, Imperial native Kevin German, 24, now of Colorado Springs, and Keonna  Carter, 22, of Utah, were Tuesday morning. Both face charges of first degree murder; German is also charged with two kidnapping counts and Carter with one. Each of those charges carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
    They are charged in connection with the November disappearance and death of Annika Swanson, 22, who was reported missing by her father three days before her body was found about five miles south of Imperial, and the kidnapping of Eve Ambrosek of Imperial.
    Chase County Attorney Arlan Wine said Ambrosek’s kidnapping led to the other crimes.
    He said Ambrosek, who had formerly been German’s girlfriend, was taken to Mann’s home and then “they took her out, beat her up and kept her for a day or so.”
    German and Carter eventually left and Ambrosek was able to get away, Wine said.
    That apparently happened before Swanson was kidnapped and killed, but there’s some confusion over the timeline, Wine said.
    Other than to plead not guilty to all charges, neither German nor
Carter spoke much during separate arraignments Tuesday, other than to answer questions from Judge David Urbom.
    The next step for German will be a status hearing—basically an update on the case’s progress through the court system—for which no date has yet been set. A hearing on defense motions for Carter will be Feb. 14.
    German and Carter remain in the Lincoln County Jail in North Platte with no bail.