The group met to decide how they would divvy up the money. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. TENNESSEE COLLEGE STUDENT ACCUSED OF FATAL SHOOTING IN DORM. But a bail memorandum filed in the case . More than a few cases seem to trace back to a personal slight or insult that escalated into violence, said Lt. John McKinnon, head of APD's homicide unit. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. [16], Hansen was sentenced to 461 years in prison without the possibility of parole for her murder and three others. The Anchorage Police Department has identified the victim as Kathleen J. Henry, 30, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster gave invocation at Kenai Assembly meeting, Even more cruise ships are coming to Alaska in 2020. A separate 1998 audit done for the Alaska Legislature said the states public defenders can ethically handle no more than 59 cases in a 60-hour work week; by that standard, Steiner said at the March hearing, his agency needed 66 more lawyers to fulfill its constitutional obligations. It had 39 images and 12 videos that recorded the alleged crime. During an arraignment at Anchorage Jail Court Wednesday, a judge set Smiths bail at $750,0000 cash and appointed a public defender to represent him. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The killings happened in nearly every corner of Anchorage: from an Eagle River apartment complex toa normally quietsouth-sidesubdivision. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teacher's aide. MacDonalds order and decision are part of the ongoing effort to hold a criminal trial in Fairbanks for Walters, who was 34 when troopers arrested him Oct. 5, 2017, in Mountain Village on charges of murder, assault and evidence tampering. She championed any child she met that needed a second chance for success, her obituary said. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. Witnesses say that the incident was described by crew members as "a domestic disturbance". Anchorage police think the human remains belong to the woman seen on the memory card, and the medical examiner is working to confirm the connection and the cause of death. (Google). Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. Don't kill me!" The need for nine more lawyers was based on a 45-year-old standard set by the American Bar Association that public defenders annual caseloads should not exceed 150 felonies. He said Eklutna Annie was either an exotic dancer from a local bar or a prostitute and that she was his first murder victim,[15] adding that she had been murdered in the fall or early winter of 1979. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. Police were able to identify Smith, a native of South Africa, from the video after recognizing him from a separate, unspecified investigation, in part because of his accent. Around 2010, he left Alaska and spent time in Las Vegas before moving to Virginia, where his parents now live. A district attorney has been selected to oversee the Bethel office and Skidmore said he is in talks with the North Slope Borough in hopes of funding the first Utqiagvik-based district attorney in several years. MacDonald denied the request, saying his findings are not an indictment of the Alaska Public Defender Agency nor its attorneys. Suzi Pearson, executive director for the Abused Womens Aid in Crisis shelter in Anchorage, said the decision to split up or leave a relationship can be a particularly dangerous time in the life of a woman experiencing domestic violence. An ongoing Daily News and ProPublica investigation has found that one in three Alaska communities has no local law enforcement of any kind. Igou pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020 to the September 10, 2017 murder of Aurora Paint Company co-owner Gregory Gill. Brehmer and McIntosh used Leylands pickup on June 2 to take Hoffman on a hike at Thunderbird Falls, a popular location about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Anchorage. All rights reserved. According to the bail memo, Alaska State Troopers earlier this year recovered a skull with a gunshot wound in an area near the location Smith later provided. Here, "it's more groups of people who know each other and engage in high-risk behavior together," he said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Delay is always the friend of the defense because it makes it harder for prosecutors to put on their case.. The card was also labeled homicide at midtown Mariott. Alaska copscharged an Anchorage man with murderTuesday after shocking videos found on a mysterious memory card allegedly capturedthe suspectassaulting and killing a woman whose remains were recently discoverednear a highway. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. In 2017, the year Queenie was killed, the rate of women killed by men in Alaska was three times the national average and the highest in the United States, according to the Violence Policy Center. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Seven Cold Case Task Force offices across the nation, dedicated to solving cold cases involving missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, are opening in the next few weeks, one expected to open in Anchorage. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. Pilot Project sites will implement initial response plans for tribal communities' response to new missing and murdered persons cases Anchorage, Alaska - United States Attorney Bryan Schroder announced Alaska's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Pilot Project (Pilot Project) today. While the agencys inflation-adjusted spending has doubled in the past 30 years, its felony caseload has tripled, it says. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The Iditarod, the world's most famous sled dog race, starts Saturday with a fan-friendly ceremonial run through the streets of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. Brian Steven Smith is arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom. The Public Defender Agencys budget, meanwhile, has grown by 9 percent in the past two years. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). (Anchorage, AK) - On April 22, 2021, thirty-one year-old Randall Igou was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth for Murder in the First Degree. Smith came to Alaska from South Africa about five years ago and became a naturalized U.S. citizen last month, according to the bail memo. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. MacDonald serves as the presiding judge for the Fairbanks-based Fourth Judicial District. Anchorage police investigate a fatal shooting at the Holiday Gas Station located on Abbott Road on Wednesday evening, May 25, 2016. [7] He further recollected: "I picked her up downtown and told her I was going to take her to my home". Anchorage Police Department personnelwere investigating a fatal shooting near 15th Avenue and E Street early Sept. 13, 2016. Federal authorities allege Brehmer produced sexually explicit videos involving a minor and sent them to Schilmiller. At one June hearing, shortly before she resigned, the public defender noted she was working a double case load. Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. Brian Steven Smith, a 48-year-old reportedly from South Africa, was arrested at Ted Stevens International Airport after investigators linked him to the crime. "I'd say a great number of our citizens don't engage in any activity that's considered dangerous.". Reporter Jeff Parrott contributed to this story. After Mr. Mackay and the pilot's sister, Muriel . Alaska Public Media 2022. All rights reserved. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! MacDonald wrote that in addition to the Mountain Village case, hes overseeing two other homicide trials and a sexual assault case that have all been significantly delayed due to a public defender withdrawing late into the case.. Anna Bill, a former Mountain Village police officer honored by the Alaska Federation of Natives for her advocacy on behalf of Alaska Native women and children, said the homicide was devastating for the victims family. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. "Why life seems harder, why things seem scarier why is that? A man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a woman aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska, police say, in what has been described as a "domestic disturbance". Ritchie, the 40-year-oldkilled in a downtown shootout with policeafter he wounded an officer in an encounter early Nov. 12, is the prime suspect in the deaths of five people in 2016, APD said. 2019, on charges of murder in Anchorage, Alaska. Together, the homicides pose a question for Anchorage: What made 2016 so deadly? Upon examining the card, police said it"contained several videos which appeared to show the assault and subsequent homicide of an adult female" and an investigation was opened. Thim said Smith was subsequently connected to the remains discovered on the highway through hotel records and cell-phone data. McKinnon said police are still trying to piece together what Ritchie did on a daily basis during the months he is believed to have been back in Anchorage. This week, Brian Smith, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the case, the Anchorage Police Department said in a Wednesday statement. The memory card was labeled "homicide at midtown Marriott" and contained 39 images and 12 videos of an assault and murder. Smith, 48, appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. Last Monday, Sept. 30, a woman called police dispatch to report that shed found an SD card containing a video of a homicide on the ground, police said. The Alaska Public Defender Agencys longtime director, Quinlan Steiner, announced his resignation in April. Many questions remain unanswered Wednesday, including the identity of the woman. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll told reporters Abouchuk's family reported her missing in February, but he said she had. Authorities were expected to announce charges on the case on Thursday. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The memory card, which was labeled homicide at midtown Marriott, was given to police by the woman who found it, charging documents obtained by NBC affiliate KTUU in Anchorage showed. McKinnon pointed out that in the same year Anchorage set a homicide record, it also set a record for thenumber of touristsvisiting the city. You're going to kill me!" [6], On July 17, 1980, Eklutna Annie's skeletal remains were found by workmen, buried in a shallow grave along a series of power lines north of Anchorage. Brehmer ultimately admitted to being solicited by Schilmiller to commit the murder and that the murder was planned once she realized she had been catfished by Schilmiller, the documents say. Thim declined to say anything about the other investigation, or whether Smith is a suspect in other crimes. The SD card was labeled Homicide at midtown Marriott, according to the affidavit. He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. In May, 19-year-old Brandon Merritt went to a Holiday gas station and exchanged words with another man, according to police. A memorial for James Lucas Moren in an alley behind the Gaslight Bar on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016. Her body was found along the Seward Highway south of Anchorage on Oct. 2. She said he never exhibited any violent tendencies such as those she heard of from police. Her family was not contacted and her items were removed from her cabin. It is routine for me to enter class seeing several other students at the board with James as he provides guidance not only for my class but other classes as well.". Nancy Furlow . Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. Shannon Duke. The motion filed by Walters new public defender, Julia Metzger, cited MacDonalds comments in hearings over the summer, including remarks about the public defender agency neglecting clients and accusing its attorneys of complete abandonment and total disregard of professional responsibilities., Metzger said MacDonald launched into a 17-minute diatribe at a July 18 hearing, during which he predicted the public defender agency might continue to delay the Mountain Village homicide trial until 2020. According to the charges, his mother called to report the attack and Walters fired a shotgun when two Village Police Officers attempted to approach him. Homicide detectives began combing through the 39 images and 12 videos on the card, all documenting a horrifying scene of violence against an unknown woman. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com. And he blamed the dysfunction not on managers but on spending plans and policy decisions made by Alaska governors and lawmakers over the years, and continuing to this day. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, A millionaire widower and her teenaged daughter take a fivestar cruise together. An affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against him details a strange chain of events that led police to a trove of gruesome videos and photos. According to Hansen, he had first attempted to placate Eklutna Annie as he restrained her, falsely claiming he did not intend to harm her, although she responded: "You are! The millionaires only demand for the payout was either photos or video of the slaying, according to court documents laying out first-degree murder and other charges against six people in the June 2 death of 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman. According to court documents, Denali Brehmer, 18, confessed to killing Cynthia Hoffman on June 2 at the . And they say despite the number of killings, suspects are at large in very few of the cases. Alaskas public defenders have argued for the past two years that rising caseloads and tight budgets are straining their ability to fulfill their constitutional obligation to represent their clients. Feds: Eagle River nurse prescribed 4 million opiates in 5 years, contributed to two overdose deaths. The videos show a woman being strangled and in one Smith can be heard saying just die. The videosshow Henry face down in the back of a truck. July 27, 2017 / 10:16 AM / CBS News A suspect is in custody Thursday morning after a woman was found dead on a cruise ship in Alaska. According to police, the arrest came after someone reported finding a digital storage device containing video of the killing. But they are working to build a case meeting the evidence threshold that would allow for prosecution, Markiewicz said. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. [Here are the most-read Alaska Dispatch News stories of 2016]. All rights reserved. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. Brian Steven Smith during his arraignment Wednesday. In September, the death of a man in the middle of a busy intersectionshut down anelementary school and a middle schoolwhile police investigated the killing. I don't believe it.". Online court records did not list an attorney for Schilmiller. Smith had registered a room at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott the night the video was taken, according to the affidavit. Nationally, the homicide clearance rate hovers around 64 percent, according to statistics from the FBI. The majority of victims were killed by someone they knew. Detectives saythey have a "good understanding" of what happened and who was involved in each of those cases. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Market data provided by Factset. When is Eurovision and how do you get tickets? 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Smith originally pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, sexual assault and tampering in the death of his first victim, 30-year-old Kathleen Henry, before admitting to the crime. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Jorge Rea-Villa, a handsome tattoo artist who went to a Fourth of July barbecue and ended up dead. Legal Statement. Police are careful not to blame victims of violent crimes. Human remains found along Seward Highway near Rainbow trailhead. Detectives recognized Brian Steven Smith from the graphic videos because Smith is involved in a separate ongoing investigation, said Anchorage Police Department spokesman MJ Thim. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. For many, it was the year the city's violence hit home,even if they didn't personally know any of the victims. He also told officials Brehmer communicated with him throughout the murder, and sent Snapchat photographs and videos of Hoffman while bound and then after the murder. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. IE 11 is not supported. I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". Read about our approach to external linking. ThatFriday, she dropped him off for an evening out downtown. All rights reserved. data the agency has presented to the Legislature. There wasSelena Mullenax, a young mother studying for her GEDfound shotin a public park on a winter morning. Nearly a week prior, on Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage Policeclaiming to have "an SD card containing a video of a homicide," according to a press release from authorities. This story was produced as part of a collaboration between Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News. or redistributed. She has not been identified. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. Of the34 homicides in 2016, all but three are considered solved, with police identifying at least a main suspect, according to Sgt. Alaska cops charged an Anchorage man with murder Tuesday after shocking videos found on a mysterious memory card allegedly captured the suspect assaulting and killing a woman whose remains. The show Very Scary People profiled Robert Hansen in "The Butcher Baker". In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. The victim was Robert Pfeil, a 55-year-old senior pilot for Alaska Airlines, who was shot from another car as he drove from work on Oct. 12, 1985. Marcytook every votive candle she could find in her house, plus a piece of Christmas pie in plasticwrap, to leave as an offering at a makeshift altar another corner of Anchorage turned into an impromptu memorial for a person killed in 2016. Corrections:This article originally incorrectly stated that a homicide had taken place in the Kempton Hills subdivision in 2016. April 23, 2021. When a composite sketch of the man suspected in the death of TreyveonThompson was released, more than 190 people called in tips, McKinnon said. Fiesers account supports a complaint filed by prosecutors charging Doubek with the murder of his wife, 54-year-old Marjorie Gardner. Eklutna Annie is the name given to an unidentified murder victim whose body was discovered in a wooded area, one mile south of South Eklutna Lake Road in Eklutna, Anchorage, Alaska, in July 1980. "Loose lips sink ships," Markiewicz said. Officials said there was no indication Hoffman was sexually assaulted. Police recognized the man in the videos as Brian Smith, an immigrant from South Africa police knew of from a previous investigation," according to the affidavit. Theres a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. The public defender representing Walters was juggling 200 cases and resigned due to mental exhaustion a week before the trial was to begin in July, according to the order. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. An economic thing happening? However, when Eklutna Annie realized he was not driving in the direction of his home, she first asked him to drive her back to Anchorage, before he unsuccessfully attempted to convince her he was driving her to another safe location, claiming he was driving a "little further", to which Eklutna Annie replied, "Well, I'm not!" The domestic violence-related cases range from amother accused of suffocating her infant daughter,to a man accused of fatally shootinghis son-in-law. There has been some suggestion by family members out-of-state that he had recently showed signs of mental illness, McKinnon confirmed, but added, "I don't think we have any concrete evidence to support that.". The millionaire's only demand for the payout was either . The district attorney's office also decided not to pursue criminal charges in the shooting death ofAaron Syvinski, 30, which was found to be in self-defense. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP) Author: The Associated Press Published: 10:58 PM EDT August 9, 2019 Updated: 3:40 AM EDT August 12, 2019 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP . Fox News Flash top headlines for Oct. 17 are here. ", "DNA Match IDs Alaska Serial Killer's Victim After 37 Years", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14666142/?ref_=ttep_ep3, https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2020/09/22/do-you-know-this-woman/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Eklutna_Annie&oldid=1140185336, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, Anchorage, Alaska. So far, nothing has been found. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. Troopers: Wasilla woman killed, husband charged with her murder, 2023 Iditarod pre-race coverage and Ceremonial Start, Melissa Fry has the forecast for the Iditarod restart in Willow, Animal rights group PETA continues targeting Iditarod sponsors. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. In 2011 and 2012, Ritchie was named to the President's List at Blue Mountain Community College in Weyers Cave, in western Virginia, according to school documents obtained by Alaska Dispatch News. A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. [1], "Identifying [Eklutna Annie] means that no matter how you lived, whatever circumstances that you are in, that even after death, there is an equality here. Doug Moody, a supervisor at the Public Defender Agency, said in a phone interview Tuesday that Cherot will be reviewing MacDonalds critique. Public records show that he lives in a home in the Geneva Woods neighborhood, and a social media profile that appears to belong to him says he married an Anchorage woman in 2014. MacDonalds ruling addresses some of the most urgent problems facing Alaskas criminal justice system, where policymakers and the public have increasingly turned their focus in recent years.
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