The Public Defender Agencys budget, meanwhile, has grown by 9 percent in the past two years. At one point, the agencys seven-attorney Bethel office was down to three, he said. Police solved an Alaskan murder with a memory card found along road. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. But a bail memorandum filed in the case . [Here are the most-read Alaska Dispatch News stories of 2016]. "What we're seeing is that when we ask the community for assistance, they really respond to us," he said. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? A 48-year-old Anchorage man was charged with murder after someone found a digital card containing dozens of videos and photos that authorities say show him beating and killing a woman in a Midtown hotel room. 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.. It's unclear who the woman is, but authorities are working to identify her and determine how she died. 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. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. 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. Anchorage police investigate a fatal shooting at the Holiday Gas Station located on Abbott Road on Wednesday evening, May 25, 2016. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.) "I'd say a great number of our citizens don't engage in any activity that's considered dangerous.". At the scene, troopers found the door handle to Gardners bedroom door had been broken off, with damage marks matching the blade of a broken maul found nearby. Doubek slept downstairs. Thats going to escalate things tremendously because when were talking about misuse of substances, that inhibition is gone. Alaska Public Media 2022. It's not that clear-cut, said McKinnon. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. According to police, the arrest came. 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. McIntosh was arrested, but Brehmer denied any involvement in the death. Igou pleaded guilty on November 5, 2020 to the September 10, 2017 murder of Aurora Paint Company co-owner Gregory Gill. 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. She said he never exhibited any violent tendencies such as those she heard of from police. 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. 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. He always committed his murders at night, often around midnight or a short time after. has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, and was taken to Anchorage Jail. 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. Making the decision to leave, to start the processes for divorce or anything like that, that definitely would escalate the situation and increase lethality for that victim, Pearson said. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. The woman, who has not yet been identified, is described as having long dark hair and possibly being Alaska Native. 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. (The motion argued that the judge misunderstood the limits on public defenders, who do not choose which charges are filed.). 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. 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. 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. They were all going to spend Christmas together the next day. While the agencys inflation-adjusted spending has doubled in the past 30 years, its felony caseload has tripled, it says. Gardner was shot four times, according to the charging documents. [10], As Eklutna Annie struggled against his efforts to overpower her, she had screamed, "Don't kill me! Doubek did not attend his scheduled arraignment Thursday. In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. 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. A 22-year-old Alaska woman pleaded guilty to murdering her 19-year-old "best friend" in 2019 after a man who was allegedly catfishing her offered her $9 million to kill someone. ", "Alaska State Troopers: Unidentified Body", "Serial Killer Robert Hansen Dies in Anchorage", "Serial Killer's Victim Exhumed In Alaska: Who Is 'Horseshoe Harriet'? (Bill Roth / ADN). Denali Brehmer, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the June 2019 death of Cynthia Hoffman, the Alaska Department of Law said. Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. An earlier version of the chart in this story incorrectly stated that it included fatal officer-involved shootings and justifiable homicides. 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. His hair was long. But I feel that in the air.". Alaska emergency officials issued an AMBER Alert for 8-month-old boy Ahmiri Chaney on Feb. 17, 2023. . The victim has. She wore several articles of clothing, including a brown leather hip-length jacket, a light-colored knitted sleeveless shirt (possibly white, beige, or light gray in color), blue jeans, and red, knee-high, high-heeled, zip-up boots. Princess Cruises said 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares of Utah. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. "In the fog and the white light, I saw him walking down the alley," Marcy said. The graphic videos show a woman being strangled and a mans voice saying justdie, the Associated Press reported. This week, Brian Smith, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the case, the Anchorage Police Department said in a Wednesday statement. The Emerald Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, had departed from Seattle on Sunday for a week-long trip. Anchorage Police Department personnelwere investigating a fatal shooting near 15th Avenue and E Street early Sept. 13, 2016. Witnesses say that the incident was described by crew members as "a domestic disturbance". What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? Advocate for missing and murdered women, reflecting on the ongoing efforts to identify Eklutna Annie[18], Eklutna Annie remains unidentified. or redistributed. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. "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. Published: Jul. A man charged with murder is accused of fatally stabbing his 23-year-old daughter Friday in Anchorage's Fairview neighborhood. A millionaire widower and her teenaged daughter take a fivestar cruise together. "He had a leather jacket on and blue jeans, with a hoodie. So far, nothing has been found. A Wasilla woman was shot four times at home Sunday night and her husband is charged with her murder, according to Alaska State Troopers. 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. she said. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Content Warning: This article contains information that might be difficult for some readers. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the womans body was found along Turnagain Arm, near the Rainbow trailhead. Contact her at mtheriault@adn.com. "She championed any child. After troopers arrived, Doubek was given first aid and taken to a hospital. 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. ' said APD communications director MJ Thim. Gardner slept upstairs. The memory card found along road shows an Anchorage man assaulting and killing woman. Federal authorities allege Brehmer produced sexually explicit videos involving a minor and sent them to Schilmiller. In 2004 a 40-year-old lady named Merrian was taking a cruise to Alaska on board the Celebrity Mercury. [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. 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. 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. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. Photos apparently show the woman underneath a blanketon a hotel luggage cart near a truck and in the truck bed, per the document. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. Thim declined to say anything about the other investigation, or whether Smith is a suspect in other crimes. data the agency has presented to the Legislature. The majority of victims were killed by someone they knew. Reporter Jeff Parrott contributed to this story. A woman in Alaska was walking her dog when a moose charged her from behind and kicked her in the head, according to shocking video captured by a bystander. Cynthia Hoffman. CLICK TO VISIT THE ALL-NEW FOXBUSINESS.COM. CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED AFTER FORMER ROOMMATE FOUND DEAD, BLUDGEONED INSIDE WALL. Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Police did not say why the SD card was in the street, but they believe Smith recorded the images himself, according to the AP. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! All rights reserved. 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. 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. In the years since, he'd helped her live with lasting injuries. Smith had registered a room at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott the night the video was taken, according to the affidavit. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. Mar 6th 600p DARLA Recently retired newly weds embark on their third tropical cruise in less than year. The millionaire's only demand for the payout was either . "Loose lips sink ships," Markiewicz said. "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. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. 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. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. In arguments included with MacDonalds order, public defenders described an agency at its breaking point, struggling to retain experienced attorneys and unable to compete for recruits against cities with a lower cost of living and comparable pay. [3][4], Eklutna Annie was murdered by serial killer Robert Hansen, most likely in 1979. What science tells us about the afterlife. 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. 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.. 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. 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. (Scott Jensen / Alaska Dispatch News). Policeinvestigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting in downtown Anchorage onNovember 12, 2016. The next year,that number nearly doubled, to 25. Troopers arrived hours later and interviewed Walters, who admitted to beating Queenie, his 22-year-old girlfriend, with his fists and a broom handle. 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. ", Autumn Smith. On Sept. 30, police received a report from someone saying they had found an SD card containing several videos of an assault and murder. Little is known about Smith, the man charged. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. I don't believe it.". "We are working on the Ship Creek case still and the Valley of the Moon Park," said Markiewicz. Kristy Manzanares had been travelling with a large group, including her children, according to witnesses. Its just really incredibly disheartening, Pearson said. [9] A box of Salem matches were found in a pocket of her jacket, indicating she may have been a smoker. Market data provided by Factset. Brian Steven Smith during his arraignment Wednesday. The card was also labeled homicide at midtown Mariott. She has not been identified. She had hit the wall, an acting supervisor later told the judge. [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! 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. (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 . He then attempted to placate her, before pulling a gun, saying: "You do exactly as I say and you won't get hurt. Or are people just angrier?" In January 2013, an associate professor wrote a letter of recommendation for Ritchie, who was apparently applying for an internship. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Without a doubt, the new director will get this order for a variety of reasons, and will be thinking about how we can do things more efficiently, Moody said. Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:27 PM PST. 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. In September 2020, a revised facial reconstruction of the victim was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Investigators believe the remains along the highway belonged to the woman killed in the videos and they believe Smith killed her in early Septemberand recorded the photos and videos himself. You're going to kill me!" State lawmakers this year held the public defenders base budget effectively flat, though they included some $1.3 million, or a roughly 5 percent boost, in separate criminal justice legislation that was expected to generate more prosecutions. Warming water may be to blame. 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. An update released by Anchorage Police four months later stated they had taken a then 21-year-old named Orion Lind into custody but no charges were brought over Brandon's murder. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. MacDonald declined to be interviewed, saying that Walters case is still open. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll told reporters Abouchuk's family reported her missing in February, but he said she had last been seen by them in July 2018. 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. Marcy keeps running over the questions in her mind: Why is this happening in Anchorage? All rights reserved. Delay is always the friend of the defense because it makes it harder for prosecutors to put on their case.. Online court records did not list an attorney for Schilmiller. 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. The images showed a naked woman being beaten on the floor of a hotel room, according to the affidavit. That puts APD at a more than 90 percent "clearance" rate for homicide cases. 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. Time stamps on the images at the hotel showed they were taken in the early hours of Sept. 4, the affidavit said. It did not include those deaths. She deserves just as much as a search for her people as any other victim, as any other survivor. 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 . The show Very Scary People profiled Robert Hansen in "The Butcher Baker". This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Market data provided by Factset. Smith is charged with first-degree murder. 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. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. James Dale Ritchie was a senior at East High School in 1994. Overwhelmingly, people were killed with guns: Gunfire was involved in all but four of the year's homicides. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. 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 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. [14], In 1984, Robert Hansen admitted that he was responsible for the victim's death. 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". An autopsy report concluded that she had been killed by a single stab wound to the back. 1 language. 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. ANCHORAGE - Following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court, a federal jury convicted an Anchorage man on charges of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, using a firearm to commit murder in a drug trafficking crime, drug conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Police are careful not to blame victims of violent crimes. At the sentencing hearing, the State presented video . McKinnon pointed out that in the same year Anchorage set a homicide record, it also set a record for thenumber of touristsvisiting the city. 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. Doug Moody, a supervisor at the Public Defender Agency, said in a phone interview Tuesday that Cherot will be reviewing MacDonalds critique. 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. Even after that request was granted, Steiner said at a legislative budget hearing in March that he needed at least nine more lawyers, on top of an existing staff of roughly 75 criminal attorneys, to fulfill the agencys constitutional obligations. Police point at recent hiring of new officers as an effort to make the city safer. Deputy District Attorney Brittany Dunlop said the process calls for the case to be brought before a grand jury. Smith has a truck matching the one in the images, and pings from his cellphone put him along Rainbow Valley Road off the Seward Highway, near where the womans body was found, within minutes of the last time-stamped photos of the body, the affidavit said. Officials allege they destroyed some of Hoffmans clothing, purse and cellphone, and Brehmer texted Hoffmans family to let them know they dropped her off at Polar Bear Park in Anchorage. This story was produced as part of a collaboration between Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. 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, Alaska A woman pleaded guilty to murder after an Indiana man allegedly offered her $9 million to "rape and murder someone in Alaska." According to the Alaska Department of Law, 22-year-old Denali Brehmer admitting to killing 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman on June 29, 2019, near Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, Alaska. Such delays typically benefit defendants and make it harder for prosecutors to secure convictions, said Alaska Deputy Attorney General John Skidmore. 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. He was unable to "remember whether she was a prostitute or [a] dancer", although he did state he believed she was from Kodiak, Alaska. (Image from East High School 1994 yearbook and APD handout). But the same weapon found on Ritchie at the time of his death an uncommon, vintage Colt Python .357 was used to kill four other people in a two-month span: Brianna Foisy, 20, and Jason Netter Sr., 41, on the Ship Creek Trail July 3, and Bryant "Brie" De Husson, 25, and Kevin Turner, 34, at Valley of the Moon Park on Aug. 28. (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. A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. "That's our plan to create a better police presence," McKinnon said. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. 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. He stepped out of the car and said goodbye to his mom and Marcy. April 23, 2021. According to court documents, Denali Brehmer, 18, confessed to killing Cynthia Hoffman on June 2 at the . The death on Tuesday night triggered a lockdown of the 3,400-passenger ship. 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. Armando Velador Padilla, 46, was taken into custody after the. In 2016, some 34 people were killed by homicide in Anchorage. Authorities who reviewed the SD cards contents said they remembered Smith from another investigation and found he was registered in early September to a room at a local hotel which had the same carpet pattern as the one in the video. Police had found Henrys remains on the side of a highway on Oct. 2. He has not yet entered a plea. 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. 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.