In that case, her father was charged with the killing. The millionaire's only demand for the payout was either . He stepped out of the car and said goodbye to his mom and Marcy. Legal Statement. Nancy Furlow . All rights reserved. He was unable to "remember whether she was a prostitute or [a] dancer", although he did state he believed she was from Kodiak, Alaska. APDsays when Moren left the Gaslight Lounge later that night,he was followedby Roy Schauer, 46. Detectives knew almost immediately that something was wrong, that someones loved one was killed when they found her remains, he said. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. Alaska Public Media 2022. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. New documents from Ritchie'stime at community collegein Virginiapresent a portrait of a striving engineering student whose work was so good that a professor wrote in a 2013 letter of recommendation that he gradedRitchie's exams first and used them as the test's key. The Alaska Public Defender Agencys longtime director, Quinlan Steiner, announced his resignation in April. "What we're seeing is that when we ask the community for assistance, they really respond to us," he said. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. Police said they will release the name of the deceased woman once her identity is confirmed and family is notified. (Scott Jensen / Alaska Dispatch News). An employee at the city of Mountain Village said the city currently has no police officer and that no officials were available to comment on the case. "Clearance" means police have either made an arrest, prosecutors have declined to file charges due to self-defense or some other reason, or the suspect died. Smith, 48, appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. Brian Smith . Our salaries up here used to be the draw, an attorney for the agency said. As of Oct. 9, police said they were still working with the state medical examiner to determine her identity and contact her next of kin. When substance misuse and mental health problems are part of the dynamic, it heightens the risk, she said. APD provided a recent photograph of Ritchie. Mike Dunleavy named Steiners replacement Tuesday: Samantha Cherot of Anchorage, who has worked both as a public defender and a private criminal defense and family attorney. (Bill Roth / ADN). According to Hansen, Eklutna Annie had been wearing blue jeans, a sweater, and a brown leather jacket. All rights reserved. Troopers arrived hours later and interviewed Walters, who admitted to beating Queenie, his 22-year-old girlfriend, with his fists and a broom handle. 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.". Smith is charged with first-degree murder. 2023 BBC. CALIFORNIA MAN KIDNAPPED GIRL, 17, WHO WORKED WITH PALS TO NAB HIM IN THEIR OWN UNOFFICIAL OPERATION: COPS, There are 39 images and 12 videos on the card, according to a charging document filed by the Alaska Department of Law. On Sept. 30, police received a report from someone saying they had found an SD card containing several videos of an assault and murder. Early on Christmas Eve, James "Lucas" Moren became Anchorage homicide victimNo. In an unusual order, an Alaska judge has declared a crisis in the states courts, saying that turnover among public defenders is delaying criminal trials and denying justice for victims and defendants alike. Thim said the arrest hinged on two aspects of the investigation: the citizen who chose to call police when they found that card, and the coordination between law enforcement agencies handling the separate cases of the videos and the body. Market data provided by Factset. The district covers an enormous and geographically diverse swath of Alaska, from the woodsy Alaska-Canada border in the Interior to the Bering Sea coast. Police say the majority of the deaths fall into the same tragic but predictable circumstances that thread through homicides every year: domestic violence, personal disputes escalated by a weapon, robberies gone bad. "Loose lips sink ships," Markiewicz said. It had 39 images and 12 videos that recorded the alleged crime. The State Medical Examiner Office is working to confirm her identity and manner of death. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Clayton Andrew Charlie, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a groundskeeper at the Alaska Zoo, has been sentenced to 55 years in prison. The FBI is testing his DNA in a nationwide database that may reveal if he is linked to any crimes in other states, McKinnon said. Delay is always the friend of the defense because it makes it harder for prosecutors to put on their case.. 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. The victim has. Police have not identified the victim, who is said to have been killed during the first week of September. [n 2], The remains of Eklutna Annie are interred at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, under a marker reading "Jane Doe / Died 1980".[21][22]. According to police, the arrest came. [5][3][10], An autopsy of Eklutna Annie's body revealed she was petite in stature,[11] and most likely white, although she may have had a degree of Native American heritage. Armando Velador Padilla, 46, was taken into custody after the. And so somebody who might have been using emotional abuse and threats and that sort of thing may escalate into more physical violence, Pearson said. Theres a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. It was first broadcast on May 9th, 2021. A man charged with murder is accused of fatally stabbing his 23-year-old daughter Friday in Anchorage's Fairview neighborhood. 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! "[13], According to Hansen, he then drove in the direction of Eklutna Lake, with his vehicle eventually becoming stuck on a desolate road as he veered in the direction of a "muddy swamp". Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The Associated Press contributed to this report. And they say despite the number of killings, suspects are at large in very few of the cases. Shannon Duke. In September 2020, a revised facial reconstruction of the victim was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The man in the video speaks with a distinct accent, which led detectives to recall a separate case involving Smith, a South African immigrant living in Anchorage. "Why life seems harder, why things seem scarier why is that? He has since been released, now in the custody of authorities, and is charged with first- and second-degree murder. [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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares, from the US state of Utah. 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. A corrections officer told the court Doubek was on suicide protocols and unable to participate. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. The same year, Ritchie was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, an honor society for two-year colleges, and graduated from Blue Mountain Community College with an associate degree in science, according to his diploma. He does not look like the young man he portrayed himself to look like, he is not a millionaire and he lives in Indiana, court documents say. She championed any child she met that needed a second chance for success, her obituary said. When troopers arrived, they found Doubek lying just inside the front door. Nine months and a long Arctic winter have come and gone since the abduction, sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Ashley Johnson-Barr in the northwest Alaska hub community of Kotzebue.. Signs . Anchorage Police Department personnelwere investigating a fatal shooting near 15th Avenue and E Street early Sept. 13, 2016. I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". Princess Cruises said 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares of Utah. Police had found Henrys remains on the side of a highway on Oct. 2. He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. 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. The card was also labeled homicide at midtown Mariott. MacDonald, who was appointed by then-Gov. Brian Steven Smith during his arraignment Wednesday. [5][3], This unidentified decedent became known as Eklutna Annie due to the location in which her body was discovered. The trial has been delayed at least 15 times at the request of the defense, according to MacDonalds order. 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. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. A man accused of killing a woman and recording it on an SD card later found in the street has been indicted in the murder of a second woman in Alaska, authorities announced Thursday. This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster gave invocation at Kenai Assembly meeting, Even more cruise ships are coming to Alaska in 2020. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. 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. [9][12] She stood between 4 ft 11 in and 5 ft 3 in, and her hair color ranged from light brown to strawberry-blond. At the sentencing hearing, the State presented video . Police did not say why the SD card was in the street, but they believe Smith recorded the images himself, according to the AP. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. Detectives arrested Smith at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to APD. But a bail memorandum filed in the case . On Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage police claiming to have found an SD card containing video of a homicide. He always committed his murders at night, often around midnight or a short time after. "James recognized the potential issue and has appropriate (sic) adjusted his behavior to make himself more inviting for others to seek help. Igou pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020 to the September 10, 2017 murder of Aurora Paint Company co-owner Gregory Gill. But there are plenty of public defender offices in the Lower 48 who are offering those exact salaries right now with lower cost of living and more stability in their government and their budget., The public defender agency asked that MacDonald be disqualified from the Mountain Village case because of his bias against the agency and Walters, the defendant. The caller told police the memory card had been found laying in the middle of the street of an Anchorage neighborhood. The woman attempted to fight back, the affidavit said. Gov. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. The state of Alaskas criminal justice system is operating on the fringes, barely able to protect against the deprivation of fundamental rights, barely able to respond in a professionally responsible manner to Alaska (s) rising violent crime rates, Fairbanks Superior Court Judge Michael A. MacDonald wrote in a blistering Aug. 30 decision, which has previously not been reported. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. [17], To date, Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Megan Emerick, and Teresa Davis have been ruled out as being Eklutna Annie. But he added that those specific failures were symptoms of broader dysfunction, like public defender and prosecutor jobs going unfilled because of obstacles to recruitment and retention, as well as travel restrictions. She said he never exhibited any violent tendencies such as those she heard of from police. 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Throughout 2016, Ritchie murdered upwards of five individuals in and around Anchorage, Alaska, most of whom were in parks or along bike paths. The final images on the card show the womans body face down in the bed of a pickup, and were time-stamped Sept. 6. "Same exactly happens to homicide cases. Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. Smith is originally from South Africa. Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. In a separate federal investigation rising from the investigation, Schilmiller and Brehmer were indicted Tuesday on federal child pornography charges, including production and coercion and enticement of a minor. TODAY - Anna Kaplan 18h. Another factor no one could have predicted: James Dale Ritchie, who could prove to bethe most prolific killer in AnchoragesinceJoshua Wade, though APD is not ready to call him that. 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. die.". You're going to kill me!" It did not include those deaths. The Anchorage office is expected to open on August 27. After Mr. Mackay and the pilot's sister, Muriel . Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. Marcy keeps running over the questions in her mind: Why is this happening in Anchorage? Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. All rights reserved. Police continued to investigate and interviewed her two days later after Snapchat video appeared, in which she appeared to confess, the documents say. The domestic violence-related cases range from amother accused of suffocating her infant daughter,to a man accused of fatally shootinghis son-in-law. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Alaska teens hoping to cash in on a $9 million offer from a Midwest millionaire brutally killed a developmentally disabled woman on a popular trail outside Anchorage, shooting her in the back of the head and dumping her body in a river, authorities allege. The killings happened in nearly every corner of Anchorage: from an Eagle River apartment complex toa normally quietsouth-sidesubdivision. 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. The FBI is investigating the death because it occurred in US waters. Contact her at mtheriault@adn.com. On Christmas Day, the people who loved Lucas Moren gathered in the alley behind the Gaslight. According to Hansen, he persuaded Eklutna Annie to help him winch his pickup free from the mud, although when he began to drive his vehicle free, Eklutna Annie attempted to run. Cellphone records trace Smith to having been at the place where the remains were found within minutes of when the last photo on the SD card was taken, police documents outline. Read about our approach to external linking. At one point, the agencys seven-attorney Bethel office was down to three, he said. MacDonald declined to be interviewed, saying that Walters case is still open. Alaska emergency officials issued an AMBER Alert for 8-month-old boy Ahmiri Chaney on Feb. 17, 2023. . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. ", "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. According to court papers, the group went off trail and followed a path to the bank of the Eklutna River, where Hoffman was bound, shot and thrown into the river. 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. APD asked morning commuters to avoid the area. 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. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. [sic] A manwith some sort of English accent can be heard in the video as well. 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 was sentenced to 498 years in prison for the murder spree. More than three dozenimages and 12 videos were stored on the card, according to the charging documents. The SD card also contained images of the womans body being removed from a hotel room and transported in a black truck, according to charging documents. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. [3][4], Eklutna Annie was murdered by serial killer Robert Hansen, most likely in 1979. Authorities were expected to announce charges on the case on Thursday. IE 11 is not supported. 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. Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, 'The nurses wanted me to feel guilty about my abortion, From Afghan TV fame to a US factory floor. All the white people are getting done first while the Natives get pushed to the back burner, Bill wrote in a Facebook message, when asked about the case. Bill said that in her experience with the criminal justice system, cases involving white defendants and victims appear to be resolved more quickly than cases involving Alaska Natives. 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. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. The show Very Scary People profiled Robert Hansen in "The Butcher Baker". (Loren Holmes / ADN). 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. Anchorage Police investigate the scene where human remains we found at mile 108 of the Seward Highway near Rainbow on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. According to the Violence Policy Center, Alaska ranked number one in murder of women by men in incidents where there were one victim and one offender from 2014 through 2018. 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. "They are engaging in this behavior where maybe a mature person would say, 'I'd never do that,' but to the people involved this is real stuff to them disrespect. 1 language. Clark asked that he be appointed a public defender and set his bail at $500,000 cash appearance bond and a $250,000 cash performance bond. APD officer Arn Salao was wounded and the suspect, James Dale Ritchie, was killed in the early-morning shootout. The memory card was labeled "homicide at midtown Marriott" and contained 39 images and 12 videos of an assault and murder. Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the womans body was found along Turnagain Arm, near the Rainbow trailhead. 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. This week, Brian Smith, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the case, the Anchorage Police Department said in a Wednesday statement. April 23, 2021. He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teacher's aide. she said. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. (Erik Hill / Alaska Dispatch News). Reporter Jeff Parrott contributed to this story. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. AnAlaska man accused of brutally assaulting and murdering a woman who was seen strangled in videos found ona digital memory cardhasbeen charged with another death, authorities said Thursday. What science tells us about the afterlife. In February 2017, 37-year-old Brandy Sullivan, an Alaska Airlines customer-service agent who lived in an upscale Anchorage suburb, was allegedly shot and killed by her estranged husband.. She has not been identified. Market data provided by Factset. Among those charged is Darin Schilmiller, whom authorities say presented himself as the millionaire Tyler from Kansas, using a fake photograph. Gardner was shot four times, according to the charging documents. In 2016, some 34 people were killed by homicide in Anchorage. 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. On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Smith onmurder and evidence tampering charges in Abouchuk's death. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. That puts APD at a more than 90 percent "clearance" rate for homicide cases. Many questions remain unanswered Wednesday, including the identity of the woman. He told Anchorage District Court Judge Brian Clark that he had about $2,000 in total saved. This is a truly horrific case that is not the norm for our community, Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said at a news conference, the Anchorage Daily News reported . Brian Steven Smith is arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom. Lucas Moren himself had cleaned up the bloody scene of the machete attack on his mother. Other witnesses described seeing a bloody man threatening to jump off the ship. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The year'shomicides include at least seven domestic violence killings, where the victim is believed to have beenslain by an intimate partner or someone in their immediate family. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. 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. Little is known about Smith, the man charged. A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. Detectives saythey have a "good understanding" of what happened and who was involved in each of those cases. Slawomir Markiewicz, the Anchorage Police Department's top detective. 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. The images showed a naked woman being beaten on the floor of a hotel room, according to the affidavit. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). In June, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr declared a public safety emergency in the state, announcing $10.5 million in funding for village police, equipment and public safety buildings. The case marks the second killing in less than six months involving a video. 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. "She sounded pretty desperate, but the crew came up as quickly as they could", he said, adding that the incident occurred on the 9th floor of the 19-deck ship.
