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. Kristy Manzanares had been travelling with a large group, including her children, according to witnesses. 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. 28, 2020 at 10:10 AM PDT. 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. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. 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. Legal Statement. 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. 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. / 61.1254; -149.5234. ' said APD communications director MJ Thim. 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. Last week, 23-year-old Darla Velador of Anchorage was stabbed to death. But he added that those specific failures were symptoms of broader dysfunction, like public defender and prosecutor jobs going unfilled because of obstacles to recruitment and retention, as well as travel restrictions. [17], To date, Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Megan Emerick, and Teresa Davis have been ruled out as being Eklutna Annie. Brian . Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:27 PM PST. 2022 Anchorage Daily 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. The Department of Law asked that Smith'sbond be set at $2 million. 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.". Contact her at zhollander@adn.com. Smith remained in jail on Wednesday where he is being held on an outstanding warrant. "I'd say a great number of our citizens don't engage in any activity that's considered dangerous.". APD provided a recent photograph of Ritchie. Moody, the Alaska Public Defender Agency supervisor, said there are currently 11 vacant attorney positions out of 98 statewide. [4][7][n 1], Eklutna Annie's body was markedly decomposed, indicating her death had occurred months prior. APD asked morning commuters to avoid the area. McIntosh was arrested, but Brehmer denied any involvement in the death. she said. ", "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. Brian Smith . Two days later, both Brehmer and McIntosh were interviewed. Gov. Days later, on Oct. 2, police officers found human remains on the side of a highway. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Hansen specifically stated she was his first murder victim. Passengers told CBS News that a "murder mystery" theme dinner had been taking place when the incident occurred, and several passengers first confused the crime for a hoax. The memory card was labeled "homicide at midtown Marriott" and contained 39 images and 12 videos of an assault and murder. Detectives arrested Smith at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to APD. The race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. 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. Could a bigger prize and more races boost interest? ", "Alaska State Troopers: Unidentified Body", "Serial Killer Robert Hansen Dies in Anchorage", "Serial Killer's Victim Exhumed In Alaska: Who Is 'Horseshoe Harriet'? Her fiance was killed. "That's what's been fascinating.". (Loren Holmes / ADN). Alaska emergency officials issued an AMBER Alert for 8-month-old boy Ahmiri Chaney on Feb. 17, 2023. . 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. 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 killings happened in nearly every corner of Anchorage: from an Eagle River apartment complex toa normally quietsouth-sidesubdivision. Smiths wife of five years, Stephanie Bissland, told KTUU on Oct. 10 that Smith was a good husband, and she did not believe the allegations against him. Of the34 homicides in 2016, all but three are considered solved, with police identifying at least a main suspect, according to Sgt. 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. Police have only definitively named him as the gunman in one killing, that of Treyveon Thompson on July 29. (Scott Jensen / Alaska Dispatch News). 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. The year's final tally surpasses even the 29 deathsthat occurred in 1995, at the time attributed by officials to gang and drug activity. In June, U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr declared a public safety emergency in the state, announcing $10.5 million in funding for village police, equipment and public safety buildings. ", Autumn Smith. Sarah Palin in 2007, admonished public defenders for specific professional failures in their handling of Walters case. The Anchorage office is expected to open on August 27. The next year,that number nearly doubled, to 25. And they say despite the number of killings, suspects are at large in very few of the cases. The memory card found along road shows an Anchorage man assaulting and killing woman. There were no immediate details aboutthe earlierinvestigation involving Smith. Ritchie was killed during a shootout with police officers in downtown Anchorage on November 12, 2016. 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. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. Brian Steven Smith is arraigned Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019 on a charge of first-degree murder at the Anchorage Jail courtroom. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. [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. Market data provided by Factset. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. I don't believe it.". Born in Montana but raised in Alaska, Duke married, raised three children and worked jobs including as a teachers aide. They were all going to spend Christmas together the next day. 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. Witness memories fade, Skidmore said. 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. The organization had previously released a digital reconstruction, and a clay bust of Eklutna Annie had also been created in the past. The man in the video speaks with a distinct accent, which led detectives to recall a separate case involving Smith, a South African immigrant living in Anchorage. After troopers arrived, Doubek was given first aid and taken to a hospital. has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, and was taken to Anchorage Jail. 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. CLICK TO VISIT THE ALL-NEW FOXBUSINESS.COM. 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. When troopers arrived, they found Doubek lying just inside the front door. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Cynthia Hoffman. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. (Bill Roth / ADN). 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. Detectives recognized Brian Steven Smith from the graphic videos because Smith is involved in a separate ongoing investigation, said Anchorage Police Department spokesman MJ Thim. [9][12] She stood between 4 ft 11 in and 5 ft 3 in, and her hair color ranged from light brown to strawberry-blond. At the sentencing hearing, the State presented video . Brehmer agreed to commit the murder for him.. But a bail memorandum filed in the case . Anchorage police say theyve arrested a man for the murder of a woman whose body had been dumped a week ago on the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. Thim said Smith was subsequently connected to the remains discovered on the highway through hotel records and cell-phone data. Each of the three men died from gunshot wounds. 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. 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. MacDonald denied the request, saying his findings are not an indictment of the Alaska Public Defender Agency nor its attorneys. But they point out the majority of them were either involved in risky behavior or killed by someone they knew. McKinnon pointed out that in the same year Anchorage set a homicide record, it also set a record for thenumber of touristsvisiting the city. 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. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. 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. Early on Christmas Eve, James "Lucas" Moren became Anchorage homicide victimNo. 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. The callertold police the memory card was found layingin the middle of the street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage. According to the bail memo, Alaska State Troopers earlier this year recovered a skull with a gunshot wound in an area near the location Smith later provided. He was returning to Anchorage, where he lives, Thim 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. On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Smith onmurder and evidence tampering charges in Abouchuk's death. "We are working on the Ship Creek case still and the Valley of the Moon Park," said Markiewicz. At 41, he was a bachelor. 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. Officers arrested Brian Steven Smith, 48, Tuesday afternoon, an Anchorage Police Department statement said. 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. "Is it a greater population? [10], As Eklutna Annie struggled against his efforts to overpower her, she had screamed, "Don't kill me! That puts APD at a more than 90 percent "clearance" rate for homicide cases. Legal Statement. Mar 6th 600p DARLA Recently retired newly weds embark on their third tropical cruise in less than year. 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. 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. 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 . Her eldest daughter Chloe was killed with her. 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, 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. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. APD officer Arn Salao was wounded and the suspect, James Dale Ritchie, was killed in the early-morning shootout. 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. MacDonald serves as the presiding judge for the Fairbanks-based Fourth Judicial District. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. 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 do not believe Ritchie was involved with any otherunsolved slayingsin 2016. The majority of victims were killed by someone they knew. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. (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. Nationally, the homicide clearance rate hovers around 64 percent, according to statistics from the FBI. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He also told them hehad shot another woman and revealed where he dumped her body. 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. Market data provided by Factset. All rights reserved. The womans body was found last week along the Seward Highway south of the city. 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 . Months before the alleged hit . 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. Gardner slept upstairs. During the initial 911 call, Doubek reportedly had slurred, garbled speech and admitted to shooting his wife, according to the affidavit. The caller later told officers the card a small memory card used in portable digital devices was discarded on the street at the corner of Fairbanks Street and 13th Avenue in Fairview, near the Gambell Carrs store. He was sentenced to 498 years in prison for the murder spree. 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. Advocate for missing and murdered women, reflecting on the ongoing efforts to identify Eklutna Annie[18], Eklutna Annie remains unidentified. 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. Anchorage police identified thesecond victim as Veronica Abouchuk. Other witnesses described seeing a bloody man threatening to jump off the ship. 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. His wife is not implicated in the slaying. 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. 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. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The Iditarod, the world's most famous sled dog race, starts Saturday with a fan-friendly ceremonial run through the streets of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. 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. Police were able to identify Smith, a native of South Africa, from the video after recognizing him from a separate, unspecified investigation, in part because of his accent. "We haven't found evidence that anyone other than Ritchie is involved.". Online court records did not list an attorney for Schilmiller. 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. 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. They are unwilling to share details of crimes in which charges have not been filed. 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. [3][4], Eklutna Annie was murdered by serial killer Robert Hansen, most likely in 1979. "[13], According to Hansen, he then drove in the direction of Eklutna Lake, with his vehicle eventually becoming stuck on a desolate road as he veered in the direction of a "muddy swamp". She said he never exhibited any violent tendencies such as those she heard of from police. Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. Clark asked that he be appointed a public defender and set his bail at $500,000 cash appearance bond and a $250,000 cash performance bond. Jorge Rea-Villa, a handsome tattoo artist who went to a Fourth of July barbecue and ended up dead. [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! Rodgers went on to kill another man in Anchorage and shoot two others who survived before his 26-hour rampage ended. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Upon examining the card, police said it"contained several videos which appeared to show the assault and subsequent homicide of an adult female" and an investigation was opened. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Doug Moody, a supervisor at the Public Defender Agency, said in a phone interview Tuesday that Cherot will be reviewing MacDonalds critique. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster gave invocation at Kenai Assembly meeting, Even more cruise ships are coming to Alaska in 2020. He has since been released, now in the custody of authorities, and is charged with first- and second-degree murder. Police continued to investigate and interviewed her two days later after Snapchat video appeared, in which she appeared to confess, the documents say. An ongoing Daily News and ProPublica investigation has found that one in three Alaska communities has no local law enforcement of any kind. 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. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, This years Iditarod field is the smallest in history. 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. 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. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. The FBI is investigating the death because it occurred in US waters. "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. LOUISIANA MAN ARRESTED IN 1989 MURDER CASE: POLICE. Delay is always the friend of the defense because it makes it harder for prosecutors to put on their case.. When is Eurovision and how do you get tickets? Authorities were expected to announce charges on the case on Thursday. Copyright 2021 KTUU. "That tells us other people believe it is a good place," he said. Hoffman, 19, died from a gunshot wound to the. Police immediately suspected John Newman's nephew, 23-year-old Kirby Anthoney. This week, Brian Smith, 48, was charged with first-degree murder in the case, the Anchorage Police Department said in a Wednesday statement. We still dont know who she is and we dont know much about her," said Thim. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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. McIntosh, who is being tried as an adult in the case, was the gunman, prosecutors say. 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. 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. Many of the victims were young. James Dale Ritchie was a senior at East High School in 1994. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Hoffman was allegedly best friends with Brehmer, and she was chosen by the group as the victim, the documents say. Police have not yet pointed to any known motive in the cases where Ritchie is identified as a suspect. While the agencys inflation-adjusted spending has doubled in the past 30 years, its felony caseload has tripled, it says. 2019, on charges of murder in Anchorage, Alaska. 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 race is on: What to know about the 2023 Iditarod, No injuries in downtown Anchorage commercial building collapse. Anchorage police identified the second victim as Veronica Abouchuk. According to the affidavit, the couple had separate bedrooms. Thats going to escalate things tremendously because when were talking about misuse of substances, that inhibition is gone. 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. 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. Police did not say why the SD card was in the street, but they believe Smith recorded the images himself, according to the AP. Man arrested for murder after SD card with video of crime found on street. Troopers arrived hours later and interviewed Walters, who admitted to beating Queenie, his 22-year-old girlfriend, with his fists and a broom handle. Her body was found along the Seward Highway south of Anchorage on Oct. 2. 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. What science tells us about the afterlife. He had then stabbed her once in the back with a black-handled Buck knife as she lay face-down. The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares, from the US state of Utah. In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. According to court documents, Denali Brehmer, 18, confessed to killing Cynthia Hoffman on June 2 at the . She had hit the wall, an acting supervisor later told the judge. She was aged between 16 and 25 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered several months after her murder. It's not that clear-cut, said McKinnon. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. [16], Hansen was sentenced to 461 years in prison without the possibility of parole for her murder and three others. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Witnesses say she was travelling with her children. When substance misuse and mental health problems are part of the dynamic, it heightens the risk, she said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ritchie is considered the main suspect in those killings, said Markiewicz. 1 language. 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. 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.