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. Feds: Eagle River nurse prescribed 4 million opiates in 5 years, contributed to two overdose deaths. The Alaska Public Defender Agencys longtime director, Quinlan Steiner, announced his resignation in April. On the whole they are to be commended for all they do in the face of serious institutional limits, he wrote. 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. Smith appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge said he'd be appointed a public defender. I was the only one there, I did that, I killed her, he told investigators, according to the charges. Of the34 homicides in 2016, all but three are considered solved, with police identifying at least a main suspect, according to Sgt. 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. Warming water may be to blame. At one June hearing, shortly before she resigned, the public defender noted she was working a double case load. He has not yet entered a plea. All the white people are getting done first while the Natives get pushed to the back burner, Bill wrote in a Facebook message, when asked about the case. Police have not identified the victim, who is said to have been killed during the first week of September. Fiesers account supports a complaint filed by prosecutors charging Doubek with the murder of his wife, 54-year-old Marjorie Gardner. 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. Contact her at [email protected]. In a lot of ways I think it is generational," McKinnon said. "That tells us other people believe it is a good place," he said. The SD card was labeled Homicide at midtown Marriott, according to the affidavit. In the years since, he'd helped her live with lasting injuries. "Same exactly happens to homicide cases. 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. The Anchorage Police Department has identified the victim as Kathleen J. Henry, 30, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon. Doug Moody, a supervisor at the Public Defender Agency, said in a phone interview Tuesday that Cherot will be reviewing MacDonalds critique. "We haven't found evidence that anyone other than Ritchie is involved.". I said to his mother how cool he looked like a prizefighter about to enter the arena.". 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. In the Lower 48, gangs are more organized and act as outside-the-law businesses, pushing drugs and weapons in defined territories. The callertold police the memory card was found layingin the middle of the street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage. Smith is charged with first-degree murder. It was first broadcast on May 9th, 2021. 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. Police point at recent hiring of new officers as an effort to make the city safer. 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. The woman attempted to fight back, the affidavit said. 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. We learned sometimes the hard way in the past.". "What we're seeing is that when we ask the community for assistance, they really respond to us," he said. [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. State prosecutors say Darin Lee Jones, 54, and Shawn Michael Phillips, 52, killed Patricia Phelps, 48, in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood in 2017. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News). I don't believe it.". You're going to kill me!" Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. (In addition to the 75 criminal attorneys, about 25 more work on appeals and childrens cases.) 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 identified thesecond victim as Veronica Abouchuk. In court Wednesday, Smith appeared in handcuffs, wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit. The images showed a naked woman being beaten on the floor of a hotel room, according to the affidavit. 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. Brian . The Public Defender Agencys budget, meanwhile, has grown by 9 percent in the past two years. In response, he chased after her, grabbed her by the hair and tripped her to the ground. Our salaries up here used to be the draw, an attorney for the agency 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. 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. 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. An ongoing Daily News and ProPublica investigation has found that one in three Alaska communities has no local law enforcement of any kind. In 2004 a 40-year-old lady named Merrian was taking a cruise to Alaska on board the Celebrity Mercury. A corrections officer told the court Doubek was on suicide protocols and unable to participate. 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. 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. 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. Online court records did not list an attorney for Schilmiller. Contact her at [email protected]. She deserves just as much as a search for her people as any other victim, as any other survivor. 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. Police did not say why the SD card was in the street, but they believe Smith recorded the images himself, according to the AP. 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. [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! 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.. 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. 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. Witnesses say that the incident was described by crew members as "a domestic disturbance". Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. Her fiance was killed. [2][4], Serial killer Robert Hansen admitted responsibility for Eklutna Annie's murder in 1984. Just two years ago, in 2014, Anchorage ended the year with 13 homicides on the books the lowest in two decades. Alaska Public Media 2022. Smith remained in jail on Wednesday where he is being held on an outstanding warrant. 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.". Around 2010, he left Alaska and spent time in Las Vegas before moving to Virginia, where his parents now live. 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". "She championed any child. 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 - 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. 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. or redistributed. Veronica Abouchuck, left, and Kathleen Henry. She disappeared without a trace. Shannon Duke. Anchorage Police Department personnelwere investigating a fatal shooting near 15th Avenue and E Street early Sept. 13, 2016. 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. [16], Hansen was sentenced to 461 years in prison without the possibility of parole for her murder and three others. 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. 2022 Anchorage Daily News. 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". "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. 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. With the SD card, one of the first questions that detectives had to answer was, Was this staged, or did this really happen? 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. And they say despite the number of killings, suspects are at large in very few of the cases. He worked in construction and kitchens, said Marcy, a paralegal. This story was produced as part of a collaboration between Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News. 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. Brian Smith . Policeinvestigate the scene of an officer-involved shooting in downtown Anchorage onNovember 12, 2016. Resources can be found by calling Alaska 211 or visiting the State of Alaskas website to find treatment options. 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. He had then stabbed her once in the back with a black-handled Buck knife as she lay face-down. 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. Police said the body was found near milepost 108 of Seward Highway on Oct. 2. In that case, her father was charged with the killing. 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. Rodgers went on to kill another man in Anchorage and shoot two others who survived before his 26-hour rampage ended. 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. 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. Schauer shot Moren several times, police say, though they have not said why. Homicide detectives began combing through the 39 images and 12 videos on the card, all documenting a horrifying scene of violence against an unknown woman. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Moren, a patron at the bar, was shot and killed in the alley as the bar was closing early in the morning on Dec. 24. An earlier version of the chart in this story incorrectly stated that it included fatal officer-involved shootings and justifiable homicides. Early on Christmas Eve, James "Lucas" Moren became Anchorage homicide victimNo. The domestic violence-related cases range from amother accused of suffocating her infant daughter,to a man accused of fatally shootinghis son-in-law. Doubek did not attend his scheduled arraignment Thursday. 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. When substance misuse and mental health problems are part of the dynamic, it heightens the risk, she said. But the 2016 toll also reflects one extraordinary factor:a potential serial killer apparently targeting strangers. According to online court records, no new trial date has been set in the killing of Gertrude Queenie. After troopers arrived, Doubek was given first aid and taken to a hospital. [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. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. 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. Alaska emergency officials issued an AMBER Alert for 8-month-old boy Ahmiri Chaney on Feb. 17, 2023. . He had started Friday night with two of the people closest to him: family friend Ronda Marcy and his mother, Elann "Lennie" Moren. Judges appoint public defenders for defendants who cant afford to hire their own lawyers. ' said APD communications director MJ Thim. (Image from East High School 1994 yearbook and APD handout). 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. Many of the victims were young. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. For many, it was the year the city's violence hit home,even if they didn't personally know any of the victims. 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. It appeared that Smith recorded them himself, according to the affidavit. But APD isnot ready to close the cases. 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. Contact her at [email protected]. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. 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.