Police detectivesdon't attribute 2016's increase in homicides to any one cause. Detectives knew almost immediately that something was wrong, that someones loved one was killed when they found her remains, he said. [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. 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. Anchorage police think the human remains belong to the woman seen on the memory card, and the medical examiner is working to confirm the connection and the cause of death. Smith was taken into custody on an arrest warrant for first-degree murder Tuesday afternoon at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, police said in an online release announcing the arrest Wednesday. His hair was long. 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. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. MacDonald serves as the presiding judge for the Fairbanks-based Fourth Judicial District. Published: Jul. At one June hearing, shortly before she resigned, the public defender noted she was working a double case load. Little is known about Smith, the man charged. Other witnesses described seeing a bloody man threatening to jump off the ship. 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. APD asked morning commuters to avoid the area. Around 2010, he left Alaska and spent time in Las Vegas before moving to Virginia, where his parents now live. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Slawomir Markiewicz, the Anchorage Police Department's top detective. The death on Tuesday night triggered a lockdown of the 3,400-passenger ship. Police have not yet pointed to any known motive in the cases where Ritchie is identified as a suspect. On Wednesday,. There wasSelena Mullenax, a young mother studying for her GEDfound shotin a public park on a winter morning. (Obituary photo). His wife is not implicated in the slaying. [14], In 1984, Robert Hansen admitted that he was responsible for the victim's death. LOUISIANA MAN ARRESTED IN 1989 MURDER CASE: POLICE. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. A Wasilla woman was shot four times at home Sunday night and her husband is charged with her murder, according to Alaska State Troopers. 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. He then attempted to placate her, before pulling a gun, saying: "You do exactly as I say and you won't get hurt. High winds cause damage, power outages across central Indiana . Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teacher's aide. Brian . Smith, 48, appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. 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. Hoffman was allegedly best friends with Brehmer, and she was chosen by the group as the victim, the documents say. 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. She has not been identified. She said she was not a police officer in the village at the time of the killing. Witness memories fade, Skidmore said. State prosecutors say Darin Lee Jones, 54, and Shawn Michael Phillips, 52, killed Patricia Phelps, 48, in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood in 2017. 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. She disappeared without a trace. "Because of his knowledge other students identify him as a potential source of aid but may have been intimidated by his high level of self confidence," the letter said. In January 2013, an associate professor wrote a letter of recommendation for Ritchie, who was apparently applying for an internship. He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). Feds: Eagle River nurse prescribed 4 million opiates in 5 years, contributed to two overdose deaths. 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. Armando Velador Padilla, 46, was taken into custody after the. 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. A handwritten note laid on a nearby bench with the words Shes havin an affair proof is in the phone. All rights reserved. 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. Marcy keeps running over the questions in her mind: Why is this happening in Anchorage? 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 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 . Smith had registered a room at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott the night the video was taken, according to the affidavit. 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. 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. Don't kill me!" In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. The three cases police still considerunsolved are the deaths of Marcus Cosby Jr., 24, Elijah Zeller, 18, and Ian Bobich, 29. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. Then, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, the womans body was found along Turnagain Arm, near the Rainbow trailhead. The record in this case should reflect that, as a result of the policy and budget choices made by the legislative and executive branches the people of Alaska must tolerate long delays in the prosecution of the type of crimes charged in this case crimes against women, crimes fueled by substance abuse, crimes against law enforcement officers, crimes against rural Alaskans, the judge wrote. 32. At 41, he was a bachelor. Kyle Hopkins and Nat Herz, Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. / 61.1254; -149.5234. Nancy Furlow . Or are people just angrier?" He worked in construction and kitchens, said Marcy, a paralegal. 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. Anchorage Police investigate the scene where human remains we found at mile 108 of the Seward Highway near Rainbow on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019. Human remains found along Seward Highway near Rainbow trailhead. [17], To date, Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Megan Emerick, and Teresa Davis have been ruled out as being Eklutna Annie. Detectives arrested Smith at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to APD. With the SD card, one of the first questions that detectives had to answer was, Was this staged, or did this really happen? Brian Steven Smith is shown being arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska. 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. 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. All rights reserved. ThatFriday, she dropped him off for an evening out downtown. The Department of Law asked that Smith'sbond be set at $2 million. I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". Alaska Public Media 2022. Police do not believe Ritchie was involved with any otherunsolved slayingsin 2016. "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. On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Smith onmurder and evidence tampering charges in Abouchuk's death. 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. In the years since, he'd helped her live with lasting injuries. 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. 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. It had 39 images and 12 videos that recorded the alleged crime. [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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. 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.. A 19-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, was allegedly killed by her best friend and several other teen accomplices after they were promised millions of dollars for video evidence of the killing by a man who had catfished them. "It depends on what we're looking at as far as danger," said McKinnon, speaking generally about citizen safety and homicides in 2016. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. 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.. The Emerald Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, had departed from Seattle on Sunday for a week-long trip. Smith is originally from South Africa. If you are considering suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or Stop Suicide Alaska at 1-877-266-HELP. 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. In September 2020, a revised facial reconstruction of the victim was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The memory card, which was labeled homicide at midtown Marriott, was given to police by the woman who found it, charging documents obtained by NBC affiliate KTUU in Anchorage showed. But detectives had gotten video of the homicide days prior to finding the victims body, police said. 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. McKinnon said police are still trying to piece together what Ritchie did on a daily basis during the months he is believed to have been back in Anchorage. 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. [Here are the most-read Alaska Dispatch News stories of 2016]. Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. 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. Federal authorities allege Brehmer produced sexually explicit videos involving a minor and sent them to Schilmiller. On Sept. 30, someone called Anchorage police claiming to have found an SD card containing video of a homicide. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. Hoffman, 19, died from a gunshot wound to the. Policeinvestigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting in downtown Anchorage onNovember 12, 2016. "James recognized the potential issue and has appropriate (sic) adjusted his behavior to make himself more inviting for others to seek help. Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. Kristy Manzanares had been travelling with a large group, including her children, according to witnesses. Lucas Moren himself had cleaned up the bloody scene of the machete attack on his mother. And they say despite the number of killings, suspects are at large in very few of the cases. 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 May, 19-year-old Brandon Merritt went to a Holiday gas station and exchanged words with another man, according to police. In 2016, some 34 people were killed by homicide in Anchorage. 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. Our salaries up here used to be the draw, an attorney for the agency said. Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teachers aide. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. Detectives saythey have a "good understanding" of what happened and who was involved in each of those cases. For all the good the internet can do, it can be a very dark place, Bryan Schroder, the U.S. attorney in Alaska, said at a news conference Tuesday. 2019, on charges of murder in Anchorage, Alaska. Advocate for missing and murdered women, reflecting on the ongoing efforts to identify Eklutna Annie[18], Eklutna Annie remains unidentified. 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. 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. Resources can be found by calling Alaska 211 or visiting the State of Alaskas website to find treatment options. 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. (Google). If you or someone you know is struggling with a substance use disorder, help is available. 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. Time stamps on the images at the hotel showed they were taken in the early hours of Sept. 4, the affidavit said. All rights reserved. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. 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. According to court documents and evidence presented . Fox News Flash top headlines for Oct. 17 are here. 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. An economic thing happening? The SD card, reportedly discovered lying in the street in an Anchorage neighborhood, was labeled homicide at midtown Marriott and contained graphic, time-stamped images and video recordings of a man beating and choking a naked woman, according to charging documents. "What we're seeing is that when we ask the community for assistance, they really respond to us," he said. 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! He moved back to Alaska in the spring of 2016. 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. She had hit the wall, an acting supervisor later told the judge. 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. An Alaskan murder mystery has been solved thanks to a SD card found laying in the street. The trial has been delayed at least 15 times at the request of the defense, according to MacDonalds order. Police have not identified the victim, who is said to have been killed during the first week of September. Contact her at mtheriault@adn.com. He also allegedly told authorities that he and Brehmer discussed killing another person, but the plan was abandoned, and he admitted to blackmailing Brehmer into raping people. Market data provided by Factset. Its just really incredibly disheartening, Pearson said. On Sept. 30, police received a report from someone saying they had found an SD card containing several videos of an assault and murder. Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. Among those charged is Darin Schilmiller, whom authorities say presented himself as the millionaire Tyler from Kansas, using a fake photograph. 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. 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 . Mar 6th 600p DARLA Recently retired newly weds embark on their third tropical cruise in less than year. 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. or redistributed. Doubek and Gardner shared a home in a Wasilla neighborhood off of Snowshoe Lane. However, when Eklutna Annie realized he was not driving in the direction of his home, she first asked him to drive her back to Anchorage, before he unsuccessfully attempted to convince her he was driving her to another safe location, claiming he was driving a "little further", to which Eklutna Annie replied, "Well, I'm not!" The 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. Legal Statement. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. The millionaire's only demand for the payout was either . Brehmer ultimately admitted to being solicited by Schilmiller to commit the murder and that the murder was planned once she realized she had been catfished by Schilmiller, the documents say. Authorities who have reviewed the videos and photos said they remembered Smith from another investigationand found he was registered in early September to a room at a local hotel that has carpet that matches the one seen in the footage. "She championed any child. Brian Steven Smith during his arraignment Wednesday. (Loren Holmes / ADN). 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. 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. CLICK TO VISIT THE ALL-NEW FOXBUSINESS.COM. 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. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. Anchorage police say they've arrested a man for the murder of a woman whose body had been dumped a week ago on the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. Some people have speculated gangs are to blame for the bloodshed. The caller told police the memory card had been found laying in the middle of the street of an Anchorage neighborhood. Her fiance was killed. 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. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:27 PM PST. (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.) At one point, the agencys seven-attorney Bethel office was down to three, he said. 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. has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, and was taken to Anchorage Jail. 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. [sic] A manwith some sort of English accent can be heard in the video as well. (The motion argued that the judge misunderstood the limits on public defenders, who do not choose which charges are filed.). 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. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. Legal Statement. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. Theres a new fight over Bering Sea black cod. "That tells us other people believe it is a good place," he said. It's unclear who the woman is, but authorities are working to identify her and determine how she died. 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. Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. After Mr. Mackay and the pilot's sister, Muriel . He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim said. Read about our approach to external linking. The killings happened in nearly every corner of Anchorage: from an Eagle River apartment complex toa normally quietsouth-sidesubdivision. Two days later, both Brehmer and McIntosh were interviewed. Ian Bobich, 29, was found shot to death outside this Elm Street apartment building just before midnight Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, on Government Hill. Police point at recent hiring of new officers as an effort to make the city safer. 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.