[9] A box of Salem matches were found in a pocket of her jacket, indicating she may have been a smoker. Throughout 2016, Ritchie murdered upwards of five individuals in and around Anchorage, Alaska, most of whom were in parks or along bike paths. 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. 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. The REAL Deaths Behind The Show (Episode Guide) - Emma Cruises Smith is originally from South Africa. One man, James Dale Ritchie, is the prime suspect in five deaths. The final images on the card show the womans body face down in the bed of a pickup, and were time-stamped Sept. 6. 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. 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. 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. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Judge: case of slain Mountain Village woman shows how Alaska's justice 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. The callertold police the memory card was found layingin the middle of the street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage. "Is it a greater population? In some villages, city and tribal leaders say they have no choice but to hire convicted criminals as cops. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. 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. He was unable to "remember whether she was a prostitute or [a] dancer", although he did state he believed she was from Kodiak, Alaska. MacDonald serves as the presiding judge for the Fairbanks-based Fourth Judicial District. CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED AFTER FORMER ROOMMATE FOUND DEAD, BLUDGEONED INSIDE WALL. 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. Police had found Henrys remains on the side of a highway on Oct. 2. Sarah Palin in 2007, admonished public defenders for specific professional failures in their handling of Walters case. Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com, Timothy Hoffman, right, father of slain teenager Cynthia Hoffman receives support from Edie Grunwald, left, who's son David Grunwald was murdered in Nov. 2016, as they entered a Superior courtroom for the arraignment of Cynthia's murder suspects in the Nesbett Courthouse on Tuesday, June 18, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. Her fiance was killed. She championed any child she met that needed a second chance for success, her obituary said. 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. Alaska murder mystery twist: Memory card found along road shows man Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. After troopers arrived, Doubek was given first aid and taken to a hospital. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. 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. 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 Projects Launched to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The Alaska Public Defender Agencys longtime director, Quinlan Steiner, announced his resignation in April. Legal Statement. The domestic violence-related cases range from amother accused of suffocating her infant daughter,to a man accused of fatally shootinghis son-in-law. 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. 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. Policeinvestigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting in downtown Anchorage onNovember 12, 2016. He always committed his murders at night, often around midnight or a short time after. Last year, Steiner, who was then the agencys director, warned that his attorneys were at their limit and would have to start refusing to handle new cases without a $1 million boost to their $26 million budget. (Bill Roth / ADN). Market data provided by Factset. In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. Our salaries up here used to be the draw, an attorney for the agency said. Read about our approach to external linking. Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll told reporters Abouchuk's family reported her missing in February, but he said she had. I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". 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. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. According to police, the arrest came after someone reported finding a digital storage device containing video of the killing. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster gave invocation at Kenai Assembly meeting, Even more cruise ships are coming to Alaska in 2020. 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. Anchorage police identified the second victim as Veronica Abouchuk. 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. 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. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). They were all going to spend Christmas together the next day. 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. But its workload is growing more quickly just between the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, it saw a 16 percent increase in felony cases statewide, according to data the agency has presented to the Legislature. 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. has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, and was taken to Anchorage Jail. The woman attempted to fight back, the affidavit said. She disappeared without a trace. On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Smith onmurder and evidence tampering charges in Abouchuk's death. Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. Around 2010, he left Alaska and spent time in Las Vegas before moving to Virginia, where his parents now live. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Ritchie grew up in Anchorage and was a standout athlete at East High School in the mid-1990s before involvement in drugs led to a felony record that derailed his life. Doug Moody, a supervisor at the Public Defender Agency, said in a phone interview Tuesday that Cherot will be reviewing MacDonalds critique. McIntosh, who is being tried as an adult in the case, was the gunman, prosecutors say. Doubek did not attend his scheduled arraignment Thursday. After the death, the ship was diverted to the city of Juneau, in Alaska, and passengers were forced by investigators to remain on board for more than eight hours. The show Very Scary People profiled Robert Hansen in "The Butcher Baker". All but one of the victims in those cases were female. Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. 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". Copyright 2021 KTUU. data the agency has presented to the Legislature. 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. But they are working to build a case meeting the evidence threshold that would allow for prosecution, Markiewicz said. Jorge Rea-Villa, a handsome tattoo artist who went to a Fourth of July barbecue and ended up dead. 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. 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. 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. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. 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. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. Cynthia Hoffman. 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. The victim has. In 2016, some 34 people were killed by homicide in Anchorage. 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.". MacDonald declined to be interviewed, saying that Walters case is still open. 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. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? It's not that clear-cut, said McKinnon. Brian . The majority of victims were killed by someone they knew. Deadliest state: For women in Alaska, rape and murder are too common 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. More officers on the streets as with arecently addeddowntown foot patrol,members of which made an arrest in Moren's murder onChristmas Eve make streets safer. He has not yet entered a plea. Alaska woman catfished by Indiana man pleads guilty to murder "Why life seems harder, why things seem scarier why is that? Smith is charged with first-degree murder. 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. In 2007, she had been severely injured when her fiance's son,Christopher Erin Rodgers, attacked the couple with a machete at their Palmer home. 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 [7] He further recollected: "I picked her up downtown and told her I was going to take her to my home". Don't kill me!" In September 2020, a revised facial reconstruction of the victim was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. There were no immediate details aboutthe earlierinvestigation involving Smith. We still dont know who she is and we dont know much about her," said Thim. They are unwilling to share details of crimes in which charges have not been filed. APD asked morning commuters to avoid the area. The womans body was found last week along the Seward Highway south of the city. Schilmiller offered Brehmer nine or more million dollars to carry out the murder and to have photographs and/or videos of the murder sent to him, the documents say. 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. (Loren Holmes / ADN). 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.. "One of the little girls from that room came running out, calling for help, that her parents had been in a fight," one passenger told CBS News. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! / 61.1254; -149.5234. He then attempted to placate her, before pulling a gun, saying: "You do exactly as I say and you won't get hurt. Reporter Jeff Parrott contributed to this story. 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. 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. ", "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. Police have not identified the victim, who is said to have been killed during the first week of September. Many of the victims were young. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Content Warning: This article contains information that might be difficult for some readers. The group met to decide how they would divvy up the money. (Image from East High School 1994 yearbook and APD handout). 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. What science tells us about the afterlife. 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. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News). "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. Theres a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. In the years since, he'd helped her live with lasting injuries. When a composite sketch of the man suspected in the death of TreyveonThompson was released, more than 190 people called in tips, McKinnon said. At 41, he was a bachelor. MacDonald denied the request, saying his findings are not an indictment of the Alaska Public Defender Agency nor its attorneys. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. Alaska woman pleads guilty to killing 'best friend' after man catfished ALASKAN MURDER: ENIGMA WITHIN AN ENIGMA - The New York Times All rights reserved. Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. Warming water may be to blame. 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. (Google). 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. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. Hoffman was allegedly best friends with Brehmer, and she was chosen by the group as the victim, the documents say. The judges order describes a disparity in the next phase of the criminal justice system the one that begins after a suspect is arrested and the clock starts ticking toward a timely resolution for defendant and victim. "That's what's been fascinating.". A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. 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. 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. The organization had previously released a digital reconstruction, and a clay bust of Eklutna Annie had also been created in the past. 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. 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. 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. Published: Jul. She has not been identified. 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. ' said APD communications director MJ Thim. We learned sometimes the hard way in the past.". When substance misuse and mental health problems are part of the dynamic, it heightens the risk, she said. Brian Steven Smith is arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom. Princess Cruises said 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares of Utah. The killings happened in nearly every corner of Anchorage: from an Eagle River apartment complex toa normally quietsouth-sidesubdivision. According to online court records, no new trial date has been set in the killing of Gertrude Queenie. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. "We haven't found evidence that anyone other than Ritchie is involved.". 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. 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. 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. 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. Police said they will release the name of the deceased woman once her identity is confirmed and family is notified. ", "Alaska State Troopers: Unidentified Body", "Serial Killer Robert Hansen Dies in Anchorage", "Serial Killer's Victim Exhumed In Alaska: Who Is 'Horseshoe Harriet'? 2023 BBC. Nancy Furlow . He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. Witness memories fade, Skidmore said. 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. 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. On that day, close to midnight, 48-year-old Charles Doubek called 911 and told dispatchers his wife had been shot, according to a version of events relayed in an affidavit by Alaska State Trooper investigator Jason Fieser. 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. (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. This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. An Alaskan murder mystery has been solved thanks to a SD card found laying in the street. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. 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. Anchorage police identified thesecond victim as Veronica Abouchuk. In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. [3][4], Eklutna Annie was murdered by serial killer Robert Hansen, most likely in 1979. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. 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". Officers arrested Brian Steven Smith, 48, Tuesday afternoon, an Anchorage Police Department statement said. Ian Bobich, 29, was found shot to death outside this Elm Street apartment building just before midnight Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, on Government Hill. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. 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. "No More Silence": Her Kidnapping, Sexual Assault and Murder Stunned a [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. Police Say A Teen Killed Her Friend After A Catfish Promised Her $9 He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. Kristy Manzanares had been travelling with a large group, including her children, according to witnesses. On Christmas Day, the people who loved Lucas Moren gathered in the alley behind the Gaslight. 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. 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. The SD card was labeled Homicide at midtown Marriott, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors: Anchorage cold case murder started with gunfire, ended in In January 2013, an associate professor wrote a letter of recommendation for Ritchie, who was apparently applying for an internship. [2][4], Serial killer Robert Hansen admitted responsibility for Eklutna Annie's murder in 1984. The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares, from the US state of Utah. (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.)
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