She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Nationally, the homicide clearance rate hovers around 64 percent, according to statistics from the FBI. 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. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. When they were able to determine that this was an actual crime, then the investigation started to quickly speed up.. Anchorage's deadly year: With 34 homicide victims, violence hits home The State Medical Examiner Office is working to confirm her identity and manner of death. Police detectivesdon't attribute 2016's increase in homicides to any one cause. Many of the victims were young. Tracy Hansen and her dog, Gunner, were walking on the sidewalk in Anchorage, Alaska, when she was suddenly knocked to the ground, she told NBC . He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. "That's what's been fascinating.". MacDonald declined to be interviewed, saying that Walters case is still open. A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. Alaska Public Media 2022. Police and a crime scene investigation unit spent much of Tuesday afternoon and evening at the home where Smith lived with his wife, hauling away a black pickup, neighbors said. [1], Last edited on 18 February 2023, at 21:52, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, "Eklutna Annie: Put The Focus Back on Me! Ritchie is considered the main suspect in those killings, said Markiewicz. State prosecutors say Darin Lee Jones, 54, and Shawn Michael Phillips, 52, killed Patricia Phelps, 48, in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood in 2017. Gardner was shot four times, according to the charging documents. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. Overwhelmingly, people were killed with guns: Gunfire was involved in all but four of the year's homicides. Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. 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. All rights reserved. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. Catfisher Convinced Alaska Teens to Murder a Developmentally Disabled He has not yet entered a plea. Of the 34 victims, 14 were under the age of 25. 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. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. 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. Other images showed her being strangled by a man who was yelling at her to die in what sounded like a foreign accent, at one point stomping on her throat. With the SD card, one of the first questions that detectives had to answer was, Was this staged, or did this really happen? The case remains open, and numerous efforts have been made to determine the identity of the decedent, including several forensic facial reconstructions of how she may have appeared in life. The woman attempted to fight back, the affidavit said. Photos apparently show the woman underneath a blanketon a hotel luggage cart near a truck and in the truck bed, per the document. [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]. 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. In 2016, some 34 people were killed by homicide in Anchorage. (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 . 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. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. Putting names to archive photos, China looks at reforms to deepen Xi's control, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, In photos: India's disappearing single-screen cinemas. An Indiana man is accused of " catfishing " an Alaska teenager and convincing her to murder her supposed best friend for $9 million with the help of four others. [17], To date, Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Megan Emerick, and Teresa Davis have been ruled out as being Eklutna Annie. Other witnesses described seeing a bloody man threatening to jump off the ship. As Merritt approachedAndrew Robertson-Goughnor, police said, Robertson-Goughnor shot him. 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. Resources: If you are facing threatened or actual domestic violence, please discreetly call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or Abused Womens Aid in Crisis in Anchorage at 907-272-0100. Smith appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge said he'd be appointed a public defender. In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. She disappeared without a trace. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Content Warning: This article contains information that might be difficult for some readers. Delay is always the friend of the defense because it makes it harder for prosecutors to put on their 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. (Google). Little is known about Smith, the man charged. "In the fog and the white light, I saw him walking down the alley," Marcy said. An Alaska resident found a stray SD card lying on the street in late September and discovered gruesome content inside: images and video of a woman appearing to be assaulted and murdered. The callertold police the memory card was found layingin the middle of the street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage. [14], In 1984, Robert Hansen admitted that he was responsible for the victim's death. Brian Smith . They were all going to spend Christmas together the next day. He warned Metzger against scurrying around in district court, spending time on lesser felony cases instead of the homicide case, according to her motion. 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. About three weeks before Hoffman was killed, Brehmer and Schilmiller began discussing a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska, according to court documents. The card was also labeled homicide at midtown Mariott. Here, "it's more groups of people who know each other and engage in high-risk behavior together," he said. or redistributed. 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. Anchorage police identified the second victim as Veronica Abouchuk. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. Alaska's arduous Iditarod kicks off with ceremonial start | KRDO After Mr. Mackay and the pilot's sister, Muriel . [16], Hansen was sentenced to 461 years in prison without the possibility of parole for her murder and three others. Mystery over woman's murder on Alaska cruise ship - BBC News / 61.1254; -149.5234. [4][7][n 1], Eklutna Annie's body was markedly decomposed, indicating her death had occurred months prior. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The organization had previously released a digital reconstruction, and a clay bust of Eklutna Annie had also been created in the past. APD provided a recent photograph of Ritchie. A corrections officer told the court Doubek was on suicide protocols and unable to participate. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. After human remains were found along a highway just south of Anchorage two days after the memory card was found, police were able to start putting pieces together. [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. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. Police continued to investigate and interviewed her two days later after Snapchat video appeared, in which she appeared to confess, the documents say. James Dale Ritchie was a senior at East High School in 1994. [7] He further recollected: "I picked her up downtown and told her I was going to take her to my home". Detectives knew almost immediately that something was wrong, that someones loved one was killed when they found her remains, he said. Thim declined to say anything about the other investigation, or whether Smith is a suspect in other crimes. The victim was also wearing several pieces of jewelry, including an apparently handmade metal bracelet containing three turquoise stones,[2][8] a copper necklace containing shell beads, a pendant heart, a Timex metal wristwatch consisting of circular links and with a brown watch face, a ring carved from shell jewelry, and gold-plated, twisted metal hoop earrings. 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. She had hit the wall, an acting supervisor later told the judge. Witnesses say she was travelling with her children. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Catfishing is when a person creates a fake identity on a social network account to deceive a specific victim. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. When a composite sketch of the man suspected in the death of TreyveonThompson was released, more than 190 people called in tips, McKinnon said. Resources can be found by calling Alaska 211 or visiting the State of Alaskas website to find treatment options. 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. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teachers aide. 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 . Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. 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.. In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. In at least two cases, a person believed to be breaking into a home was killed in what prosecutors determinedto be self-defense, and no charges were filed.The deaths ofLoren Douglas, 30, andAllen Raymond, 19, are still considered homicides by APD. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. Missing and murdered indigenous women cold case office - Anchorage, AK 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. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). 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. Man accused of killing woman, recording it is charged in 2nd Alaska murder Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. 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. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. He worked in construction and kitchens, said Marcy, a paralegal. 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. ", Autumn Smith. Market data provided by Factset. Brian Steven Smith, 48, admitted to detectives that he was the man inimages and videos from the card, according to a document filed by the state Department of Law. During the initial 911 call, Doubek reportedly had slurred, garbled speech and admitted to shooting his wife, according to the affidavit. Brehmer then enlisted the help of four friends, including 19-year-old Caleb Leyland, 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh and two other unnamed juveniles, to plan and carry out the murder at Schilmillers direction, according to the documents. "That's our plan to create a better police presence," McKinnon said. Feds: Eagle River nurse prescribed 4 million opiates in 5 years, contributed to two overdose deaths. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. [2][4], Serial killer Robert Hansen admitted responsibility for Eklutna Annie's murder in 1984. The womans body was found last week along the Seward Highway south of the city. But at one of the many stops along the way, a grizzly discovery is made when crew membersfind the widower's body crammed into her own suitcase. Authorities were expected to announce charges on the case on Thursday. 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. 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. McKinnon pointed out that in the same year Anchorage set a homicide record, it also set a record for thenumber of touristsvisiting the city. In 2004 a 40-year-old lady named Merrian was taking a cruise to Alaska on board the Celebrity Mercury. Legal Statement. But the 2016 toll also reflects one extraordinary factor:a potential serial killer apparently targeting strangers. Press Release - Anchorage Man Sentenced to Ninty-Nine Years - Alaska Doubek slept downstairs. 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. Anchorage police say 8-month-old baby found safe; father arrested on This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 21:52. Incident happened aboard the Emerald Princess cruise ship (file picture), Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, Inside the enclave surrounded by pro-Russia forces, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, Canadian grandma helps police snag phone scammer. A memorial for James Lucas Moren in an alley behind the Gaslight Bar on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016. Two days later, both Brehmer and McIntosh were interviewed. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? 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. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Human remains found along Seward Highway near Rainbow trailhead. Police point at recent hiring of new officers as an effort to make the city safer. 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. Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. Alaska Native Man's Unsolved Murder Part of 'Epidemic' "That tells us other people believe it is a good place," he said. 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. The department is also trying to directly ask the public for help more often. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. We still dont know who she is and we dont know much about her," said Thim. McIntosh, who is being tried as an adult in the case, was the gunman, prosecutors say. It was first broadcast on May 9th, 2021. It appeared that Smith recorded them himself, according to the affidavit. Cynthia Hoffman. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! 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.". Eklutna Annie is still unidentified, despite her face being reconstructed in both 3-D and 2-D.[4][23] Several missing women are believed to have also been murdered by Hansen. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. On Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage police claiming to have found an SD card containing video of a homicide. Its just really incredibly disheartening, Pearson said. Schilmiller admitted to federal agents and Indiana State Police his role in the plot, saying he chose Hoffman as the victim and he told Brehmer to kill her, according to the court documents. 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. 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. shut down anelementary school and a middle school, don't attribute 2016's increase in homicides to any one cause, mother accused of suffocating her infant daughter, killed in a downtown shootout with police, Here are the most-read Alaska Dispatch News stories of 2016. Michelle Theriault Boots is a reporter who covers news and features about life in Alaska, and has been focusing on corrections and psychiatric care issues in the state. The Associated Press contributed to this report. or redistributed. A Snapchat video showed two of the teens accused of killing 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman near the Thunderbird Falls trailhead in June apparently discussing the crime. Anchorage Police investigate the scene where human remains we found at mile 108 of the Seward Highway near Rainbow on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. After troopers arrived, Doubek was given first aid and taken to a hospital. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Brian Steven Smith is arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom. Among those charged is Darin Schilmiller, whom authorities say presented himself as the millionaire Tyler from Kansas, using a fake photograph. Legal Statement. 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". Gardner slept upstairs. More than three dozenimages and 12 videos were stored on the card, according to the charging documents. Smith is originally from South Africa. You're going to kill me!" McIntosh was arrested, but Brehmer denied any involvement in the death. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. Igou pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020 to the September 10, 2017 murder of Aurora Paint Company co-owner Gregory Gill. At one point, the agencys seven-attorney Bethel office was down to three, he said. 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. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. Indiana man enters not guilty pleas in Alaska murder plot Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. Theres also the question of how an SD card containing images and videos of a slaying, labeled Homicide at midtown Marriott, came to be discarded on a busy Anchorage street. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. What science tells us about the afterlife. Alaska man accused of strangling captured on digital memory card The Newman Family Murders. Who brutally assaulted and killed Nancy She deserves just as much as a search for her people as any other victim, as any other survivor. When troopers arrived, they found Doubek lying just inside the front door. Police have only definitively named him as the gunman in one killing, that of Treyveon Thompson on July 29. Smith remained in jail on Wednesday where he is being held on an outstanding warrant. [10], As Eklutna Annie struggled against his efforts to overpower her, she had screamed, "Don't kill me! Police said they will release the name of the deceased woman once her identity is confirmed and family is notified. According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Law, Charlie was sentenced to 75 years . Paula Zorawski,answered her front dooronly to be shot in the face by people, Anchorage police believe, were hoping to rob her son of marijuana. Advocate for missing and murdered women, reflecting on the ongoing efforts to identify Eklutna Annie[18], Eklutna Annie remains unidentified. Detectives arrested Smith at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to APD. The remarks by the veteran judge came in a 37-page order to delay the murder trial of Alexie Walters, a man accused of beating his girlfriend, Gertrude Queenie, to death in 2017 in Mountain Village, on the Yukon River in Southwest Alaska. Anthoney and his girlfriend moved to Anchorage from Twin Falls, Idaho, in 1985 when authorities in Idaho accused him of raping and brutally beating a twelve-year-old girl at a campground near Twin Falls. 2019, on charges of murder in Anchorage, Alaska. It took 26 days after Merrian's disappearance for her to be reported as a missing person and for the search for her to start. An Alaska resident found a stray SD card lying on the street in late September and discovered gruesome content inside: images and video of a woman appearing to be assaulted and murdered. "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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.) ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A Utah couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary aboard an Alaska cruise when the husband was found covered in blood next to his wife's lifeless body, a frenzy of . One man, James Dale Ritchie, is the prime suspect in five deaths. Market data provided by Factset. 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. Alaska Teen Killed Friend After Man Online Allegedly Offered $9M MacDonald denied the request, saying his findings are not an indictment of the Alaska Public Defender Agency nor its attorneys. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. [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. "She championed any child.